The Change is Necessary

Part I

            Although
training camp is over it definitely seemed longer than the 5 days it took to
get through it.  It was an intense time
of team challenges, debriefing everything and anything, sessions, and most
importantly, self discovery.

            One morning
during my quiet time I started reading in Matthew where Jesus was clearing out
the Temple.  Now this is a story I often like to avoid... just
like most other Christians who are afraid to address the fact that God is not
only a God of love but also a God of power and judgment.  But for some reason something seemed to click
this time while reading it.  Right after
Jesus cleared the Temple,
Matthew tells the story of when Jesus cursed the fig tree.  Jesus' words really hit me.  In Matthew 21:21 He basically said that we
too could do things similar to that. 
That spurred on the thought that if Jesus cleared the Temple
and I am trying to imitate Him... am I supposed to clear out a Temple? 

            It just so
happened that that day's "theme" for sessions was Brokenness.  In order to minister we have to know who we
are and whose we are.  And a part of that
is recognizing the things in our lives that have been haunting us... those things
that we don't like to talk about; our hidden sins and hurts.  It was a day of reopening old wounds, or
should I say the healing of them.  It was
a day of emptying the trash in our lives. 
Then it struck me... we were cleaning out our Temples! 

            In Matthew
Jesus didn't clear out the Temple
because He didn't like shopping.  He did
it because the Temple
was intended to be a place of worship, a place where people could come before
God and recognize His greatness and forgiveness.  But with all the business of the money
changers and marketers that was not happening. 
So in order for that to happen things needed to change.  It became very clear that we were in the
process of clearing out the old wounds and guilt that was preventing us to be
genuine worshippers of God.