Mark 11:17, Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.
While the cleansing of the temple in Mark 11 is clearly about Jesus walking into a physical structure and clearing out the money changers and others who are using the temple to earn money there is also more. Once Jesus died on the cross a physical building was not longer to be the home of God.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body “
Once a person accepts the Lord as their savior, their body which becomes the new temple of God is cleansed of sin and the Holy Spirit comes to reside there. From the moment of conversion the Newborn Christian is a walking, talking, breathing temple of God according to Paul in 1 Corinthians and other verses.
As God's temple the body, mind and spirit needs constant attention to keep it free from the influence of the outside world (the money changers and shop keepers). This means maintaining a proper diet for physical health, reading God's Word for spiritual well being and serving the Lord which is always good for the soul. Here are five ways to keep the temple of God (yout body)clean.
1. Always keep a reverence for God. As soon as someone takes their eyes off of the Lord and His ways the temple can become cluttered with false teachings and loves for the wrong things.
2. Keeping the temple well repaired is crucial. If the temple of God is not taken care of it will start to crumble and fall apart and will become less useful. Everyone who calls themselves a Christian needs to have the right balance of diet and exercise in order to stay fit and healthy. Keeping the temple well repaired also means refraining from any type of habit which poisons the body.
3. The Temple of God must always be kept full of the Word of God. Once the Word of God leaves the temple the money changers and shop keepers return to work their mayhem throughout the mind and spirit which tears down the temple from the inside out.
4. Using the temple for God's service will keep the temple feeling fully occupied and useful. Fellowship with God's people and service of the Lord help remind each and every Christian what is truly important in the world and goes a long way keeping the temple of God spiritually balanced.
5. The temple must always be known as a house of prayer. While God knows what every Christian needs to keep the temple of God in good repair He still wants to hear from His children. God is like any father wants to talk to His children in order to find out how their life is going. Talk to God as often as possible.
These are only some of the ways to keep the temple of God in good repair. There are many others found in the Word of God.
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