Day 41: Spit a Spotify
[If you want to know how and why this devotional came into existence feel free to read this]
What you will need:
- A Bible
- This Devotional
- Some Coloring Utensils
- And a print out of this awesome coloring sheet designed by Esti O'Connell .
(Here is the week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5 and week 6 sheets if you want them)
Theme: Praise and Repentance
Passage for April 8th: Matthew 21:12-17
Bars from “How Great”
Magnify, magnify, lift it on high
Spit it Spotify to qualify a spot on His sideA Thought:
The people of God in Jesus time thought they were going to get a King who was going to re-establish a monarchy in Jerusalem. Jesus was going to do that just not in the way that they thought. Instead of unseating the ruling governmental powers of the region through an armed revolt, which is what the Hebrews wanted, Jesus wanted to return God’s people to worship their God. This and only this would establish a lasting movement of God in the world.
Jesus will ultimately defeat the powers that hold our lives captive and hinder us from worshiping our God in His cross and resurrection. And this is foreshadowed during this moment in the temple. The temple has become a place of of exclusion of the outsiders and a monument to national Jewish pride. The people of God had skewed it original function; it was a place to worship the one true God, allowing his people to enter into right relationship with their God so they could live according to his purpose. In order for the Kingdom of God to be ushered in, Jesus wants to cleanse the temple to re-establish it as a free, like Spotify, place to worship the God of Israel.
Stanley Hauerwas puts it wonderfully when he says:
“… It is significant that as soon as he drove the money changers and those who bought and sold from the temple, the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he cured them. David had prohibited the blind and the lame from coming into his house (2 Sam. 5:8), and in Lev. 21:17 the blind and the lame were prohibited from offering sacrifices to God. Jesus true cleansed the temple, overturning the established order by inviting into the temple those who had been excluded. The blind and the lame come to Jesus in the temple, and he heals them. He brings peace to the temple.”
I pray that the Lord does the the same thing in our communities of faith and, more importantly, in our hearts.
Here are the thoughts that I am contemplating today: In what ways have I distorted the way that I relate with God? Are there things in my life that have made following Jesus difficult for other people?
Mediation: Psalm 36:5-11
So as you prepare for Jesus last days read the meditation passage slowly and deliberately today asking God to prepare you heart for Jesus last days. Lock in on a phrase or a word that seems to be sticking out to you. As you color today, ask God why is this phrase sticking out to you. Listen to what he is saying in response.