John 2 -- Realizing Who We Are With

When Jesus entered Jerusalem for the Passover at the start of His ministry and cleared the Temple of the merchants and moneychangers, the people saw Him “manifesting an intense determination that the worship of God should be pure,” my commentary said.  The people were wanting to know by what authority He acted in doing so.  They’d been living a spiritually dry existence at a time when the nation of Israel was occupied by Roman forces.  Perhaps they believed that God had departed their nation.  Yet He was standing in their midst!

John continued, “Many people believed in Him because they saw the miracles He did.  But Jesus did not trust Himself to them because He knew them all.  He did not need anyone to tell Him about people, because He knew what was in people’s minds.”

Because of this, He knew that their worship was not pure.  Perhaps they’d allowed themselves to lose the specialness of communing with God in worship, instead moving to a point where all was mere ritual – solely a duty to be performed.  “He knew their thoughts and motives, why they acted the way they did.  He knew whether their faith was real or only an imitation,” my commentary said.

In the same way, He knows our hearts today.  If He sees nothing within us that points to real belief in Him, then He does not commit Himself to us either.  Yet if we show up for worship hungry to hear from Him, desperately needing a touch from the Master, He knows that and He allows us to experience communion with Him. 

Father, please quicken my heart to You as I approach worship.  Help me to leave the cares of this world at the door as I enter.  If anything is leading me to apathy, point that out to me and help me not to just be going through the motions, for as I enter worship, I need to be ever mindful that the Creator of the Universe is electing to spend time with me.  What an unbelievable privilege!  Let me not become distracted or disinterest.  Instead, let me relish every moment.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford