Stop It.

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves Matthew 21:12

A company called LifeCall had a famous commercial in which a woman says, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”. When we are lost in sin, God has mercy on us. He does not want us to stay in this condition - - he wants to give us salvation. But once saved, we have to be careful we don’t keep others from seeing the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The Christian must guard against impeding the work of God with his creation. We sometimes inadvertently or on purpose find ourselves opposing or just getting in the way of the work of the Lord.

In our text, as the faithful went in to make their sacrifices, a group of money changers and merchants had set up in the church and made themselves obstacles to those attempting to be obedient to God’s commandments. Jesus, angered, physically drove them out of the temple. When Paul was on his way to persecute more Christians, God intervened, stopped him in his tracks and demanded to know why Paul was doing what he was doing. As Christians, we spend a lot of time focused on ourselves. We would be wise to consider that God is not pleased when we get in the way of His work and His purpose. We must remember Mark 9:42 “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.” God loves us and wants us to enjoy his salvation, grace and mercy. But make no mistake about it; there is no wiggle room for those who are in the way of His desire for all men to be saved. You might not be in agreement with one of the church leaders. You might not like someone in the church or dislike one of the churches programs. You might just like to laugh at the expense of others. These are not harmless acts without consequences. If you have issues, you can deal with them directly and permanently, but you don’t want to find yourself pulling in the wrong direction.

If upon reflection you find you have been blocking the progress of the church or in the way of someone seeing the saving power of Jesus, I pray that you God give you the courage and the power to stop it today.

Deacon Larry Woodard