Hardened Resistance
Scripture: Mark 11:15-18
"15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. 17 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” 18 When the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at his teaching."
Observations:
After seeing all the corruption going on in the Temple that had gone unaddress and therefore understood as publicly endorsed by the religious leaders, Jesus decided to confront a very financially prosperous system that was obstructing true worship. While some understood Jesus' actions as the righteous judgment of God, the religious leaders resonded with anger rather than repentance and began devising a plan to kill Jesus. Their response to God's Word spoken by Jesus (vs. 17) resulted in a hardening of their hearts to the point that they forfeited any chance of ever being made right with God.
Application:
There are times in our lives when God, through His Word, confronts sin in our lives that we have allowed to go unchecked either because of our own ignornace or perhaps because we have personally benefited from it in a way that is contrary to God's will for us. But in either case, the way we choose to respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit in our lives will determine whether our hearts are led towards repentance or whether they grow hard towards God. Every time God's Word points out sin in our lives and we choose to turn away from it, God's grace brings forgiveness and we grow closer to God. However, every time we choose to ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit as He brings to light hidden sins or do nothing about the areas in our lives where we are simply living contrary to His will, our hearts are hardened against God. Like the religious leaders, if we don't keep a close tab on our hearts, we all have the potential for rejecting God's truth to the point that we move beyond repentance and no longer feel His discipline until it's too late. One way you can know the state of your heart in relationship to God is by your response to His Word.
Do you welcome God's correction in your life, or do you resist it and look for ways to escape it?
Prayer:
Father, show us today the condition of our hearts before You. Search us and examine the places that we have built up resistance to the conviction of Your Spirit and break it down. Give us the gift of repentance, soften our hearts through humility, and give us the wisdom to respond in obedience to Your truth. Amen.
"15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. 17 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” 18 When the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at his teaching."
Observations:
After seeing all the corruption going on in the Temple that had gone unaddress and therefore understood as publicly endorsed by the religious leaders, Jesus decided to confront a very financially prosperous system that was obstructing true worship. While some understood Jesus' actions as the righteous judgment of God, the religious leaders resonded with anger rather than repentance and began devising a plan to kill Jesus. Their response to God's Word spoken by Jesus (vs. 17) resulted in a hardening of their hearts to the point that they forfeited any chance of ever being made right with God.
Application:
There are times in our lives when God, through His Word, confronts sin in our lives that we have allowed to go unchecked either because of our own ignornace or perhaps because we have personally benefited from it in a way that is contrary to God's will for us. But in either case, the way we choose to respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit in our lives will determine whether our hearts are led towards repentance or whether they grow hard towards God. Every time God's Word points out sin in our lives and we choose to turn away from it, God's grace brings forgiveness and we grow closer to God. However, every time we choose to ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit as He brings to light hidden sins or do nothing about the areas in our lives where we are simply living contrary to His will, our hearts are hardened against God. Like the religious leaders, if we don't keep a close tab on our hearts, we all have the potential for rejecting God's truth to the point that we move beyond repentance and no longer feel His discipline until it's too late. One way you can know the state of your heart in relationship to God is by your response to His Word.
Do you welcome God's correction in your life, or do you resist it and look for ways to escape it?
Prayer:
Father, show us today the condition of our hearts before You. Search us and examine the places that we have built up resistance to the conviction of Your Spirit and break it down. Give us the gift of repentance, soften our hearts through humility, and give us the wisdom to respond in obedience to Your truth. Amen.
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