(Matthew 15:8) Your hearts are far from me.

All four Gospels tell the story of Jesus cleansing the Jerusalem temple.

Jesus entered the Jerusalem temple and drove out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.

Jesus said, “It is written in Isaiah 56:7, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer (worship),’ but as it is written in Jeremiah 7:11, ‘You are making it a den of robbers.’”

Every day, the temple complex was filled with the hustle and bustle of thousands upon thousands of people, both local and foreign. It was like going to a busy religious mall, where people were constantly coming and going. People gathered in small groups, and some simply hung out and talked.

Over time, however, the purpose of the temple had evolved into something it was never originally intended to be. It was built for prayer and worship.

People were busy doing all kinds of religious things, but their hearts had grown distant from God.

The problem was not the temple.

The problem was the hearts of the people.

Their hearts had declined into a state of dead, heartless, and routine religion.

As Christians, we also face the significant danger of allowing our hearts to drift far from God.

Over time, our Christian lives can become so familiar that they turn into nothing more than a daily routine.

As a result, our spiritual vitality slowly declines.

We continue our Christian activities, but our hearts gradually become dull.

Our inner lives slowly become stagnant.

Our hearts gradually become like stones.

There is no spiritual life apart from the daily presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

We can go to church on Sundays, just as the Israelites went to the temple, but simply attending church means little if our hearts have gradually drifted far from God.

Be aware!

Jesus will come and overturn the tables in your world, just as He did in the Jerusalem temple.

He does this not to condemn us, but to wake us up.

He does this to shake us out of our spiritual slumber.

Has your Christian life slowly become stale?

Has your Christian life slowly become routine?

Has your heart gradually drifted far from God?

Be careful!

Shake your heart and wake it up.

Otherwise, God might do it for you.