Cleansing Monday

Imagine stepping into Narnia for the first time, expecting a land of wonder and beauty, only to find it under the icy grip of the White Witch. What was meant to be a place of freedom and joy had become a land of fear and oppression. This is what Jesus encountered when He walked into the temple in Jerusalem. A place meant for worship, set apart for the presence of God, had been overtaken by greed and corruption. Instead of prayer, He heard the clinking of coins. Instead of reverence, He saw exploitation. The temple had become a marketplace, a den of thieves.

And Jesus was not indifferent. Like Aslan breaking the Witch’s spell over Narnia, Jesus overturned tables, drove out merchants, and rebuked those who had defiled the sacred. His anger was not reckless but righteous—a passion to restore what had been twisted into something unrecognizable.

Jesus’ cleansing of the temple is not just a historical moment—it is a mirror into our own lives. We, too, are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Yet how often do we allow distractions, sin, or even good things in the wrong places to clutter our hearts? We justify small compromises. We let in attitudes, habits, and priorities that shift our focus away from worship. Before we know it, the place meant for God’s presence is filled with lesser things.

But Jesus does not stand by and watch. He enters. He disrupts. He overturns. Not because He is cruel, but because He is zealous for His Father’s house—and for your heart. His cleansing is an act of love, a call to restore what was meant to be holy.

As you read the accounts of Jesus cleansing the temple, don’t just see it as a story of the past. Ask the Lord to search your heart. What tables need to be overturned? What distractions need to be driven out? Jesus is not afraid to confront what does not belong. But He does so with the purpose of making space—space for worship, space for His presence, space for the holy.

Will you let Him cleanse His temple?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, enter the temple of my heart and overturn every table that does not belong. Drive out the distractions, the compromises, and the clutter that have taken Your rightful place. In Your mercy, cleanse me not with condemnation but with love, making space for Your presence to dwell fully. Restore in me a heart of true worship, set apart and holy for You.