Grace opens our eyes to see reality.
Our wrestle is with seeing truth from the eyes of our heart.
God, open our eyes, this day, to see reality as you do.
Oh, Son of David! Lord, Have Mercy on Us.
"And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” Wait! Jesus knew that they were blind. He wants our hearts but He also wants our words. Call it what it is. Call Him Who He is. The blind men did.
They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him. I wonder if Jesus is having compassion on us today?
With stinging tears, I read this passage. I hear our Mediator asking: "What do you want Me to do for you?" I know God! I think I know! Would you please have compassion on us right where we sit this very circumstance. Lord, we want our eyes to be opened. Lord, Have Mercy!
PRAYER FROM PSALMS
God, open our eyes that we may behold Wondrous Things in your law. Psalm 119:18
First thing Jesus did when he entered Jerusalem was to cleanse the temple. And the reason He’s angry, is because these moneychangers and priests and patrons have taken that which was intended to be holy and they’ve made it fit their own personal agendas.
ReplyDeleteHey, people are coming anyway. Let's make it convenient. Let's charge a lot and they won't have to be bothered making long trips with animals that are just going to be put down anyway. To make it worse, the priests were in cahoots with the merchants and would reject the animals bought elsewhere. Robbers and thieves in the name of good.
Not at all the intended holy pilgrimage God had set up back in the Old Testament. The sacrifice had become a sacrilege. The purification had become a profanity. Jesus looked and saw the mockery of His Father's House and proclaimed, "It is written: My House shall be called a House of Prayer! But you are making it a den of robbers and thieves.
What do we do in the name of relevance and convenience today in churches? What are we discounting? Could we be profaning His House? Could we be secularizing something that is meant to be holy? Where is our awe? Where is our holy fear? Churches, wake up and take notice. Where are we making Him too impotent and containing Him with our small boxes of standards?
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy on my own life. Cleanse the dark corners that hide from Light and Holiness. Purify my heart to hold Your Spirit as a proper temple. Make this temple holy with You. Lord, give us real eyes to see from Your perspective. Amen.
Time to do a little temple cleansing myself.