Daily Devotion for April 07, 2025

Devotion:

For an audio version of this devotion, click here.

Read Matthew 21:12-14.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday, he was publicly declaring that he was the promised king, the Messiah or Christ. Since his ministry had begun three years earlier, he had been careful not to make that claim openly, but now this had all changed dramatically. It appears that he went directly to the temple, the place or house of God. There he found people buying and selling animals of sacrifice. Others were exchanging foreign currency for temple money so they could give their offerings. But these “robbers” were cheating the people who had traveled to worship during Passover and the Feast, and the temple courts had taken on the look and, no doubt, the sounds of a marketplace.

As soon as Jesus had driven out the robbers, he returned it to the house of prayer it was meant to be by beginning to heal those who came to him. Today, we must remember that the church is not a place to network for business or to further our careers. It is a place for worship, for prayer, for healing, and for making disciples.  

Personal Worship Option:

Give thanks today for this reminder that the church, like the temple, must be about God’s work. Our campus and our facilities are awesome blessings, and they have been given to us in order for us to use them to do God’s work.