Daily Manna 22 September
KEY VERSE: “And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.” – (Mark 11:15,16)
TEXT: Mark 11:11-27
11 And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.
12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”
And His disciples heard it.
15 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”
18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. 19 When evening had come, He went out of the city.
20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 [a]But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
27 Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
Nowadays, it has become a common practice for many people to put business above the word of God in His house. Every religious event of the church presents an ample opportunity for them to make brisk business. Rather than plan to profit from God’s word from such programmes, the major preoccupation is how much to be made from commercial activities.
From the text, the money changers and merchants had created a religion based on their own materialistic desires. Without appealing to conscience, these money-changers worked in the temple area by giving unfair exchange rates to foreign travellers who had come to honour the feasts of Passover and Pentecost. The merchants were selling at inflated prices the needed animals that were to be sacrificed. To them, what they were doing was religious, but in the words of Jesus, they had made the house of prayer “a den of thieves”.
When one creates a religion with impure motives, such religion will justify the adherents to do things that are contrary to the word of God. Many people engage in many good and noble ventures but with wrong motives.
The money changers and merchants at the temple had the mind that they were rendering essential services to those who came to worship; but they were ripping the people off with their exorbitant charges. Making too much gain at people’s expense was exploitation that put the merchants in the class of thieves. We must consciously decide not to be swayed by the fads and fancies of this age in order not to lose sight of what God wants from us.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: No man pleases God by doing what He hates.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Proverbs 18-20
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – Wrong Motives Exposed – by Pastor Enoch A.
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Daily Manna 22 September 2021
