While in middle school, my son discovered bowling and fell in love with the sport. For several years life consisted of bowling leagues, bowling lessons, bowling tournaments, and high school bowling. Eventually, it paid off and he earned a bowling scholarship to college. He had a zeal for bowling.

In the Gospel of Luke chapter 2, we learned that when Jesus was twelve, He traveled with His parents to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. While His parents were returning home, they realized that Jesus was not in the caravan. They traveled back to Jerusalem and searched for days and finally found Him in the Temple courts among the teachers, listening and asking questions. When His parents said that they had been looking for Him, He stated, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49).

To Jesus, the Temple in Jerusalem was more than just a building with courtyards. It was His Father’s house. The Temple was the place where God’s glory resided. Jesus knew the proper spiritual climate surrounding this place of worship and learning. According to Isaiah 56:7, God wanted His house to be called a house of prayer for all the nations. But the Jews had turned the Court of the Gentiles into a marketplace. Therefore, the Gentiles could not worship or pray at the Temple.

Jesus’ passion for His Father’s house emboldened Him to empty the Court of the Gentiles from all the business opportunists. By doing so, He made room for the Gentiles. As for the merchants, He was showing them that “the who” of worship was the most important thing.

>> Do you have a zeal for worship? Today, consider how you can re-center your attention on worshiping “the Lord, our God.” We worship Him not just when we are in church, but with every waking breath, with all our heart, mind, and soul. God desires that people from every nation and tribe worship Him. Let’s pray to that end.

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