Walk and Talk with the Lord #28

We've been following along with Jesus on this Journey to Jerusalem, listening as we walk to the talk He had with those He encountered, and with the disciples who were listening and later recorded these words. The day after the triumphal entry we find:  

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city. (Mark 11)

Every day that week Jesus went back and forth into the temple to teach, to heal, and to talk with people. He had choice words for those he encountered in the courtyard of the Gentiles - the only place they were allowed to come and talk with the Lord.  It was noisy and cluttered, and corrupt - of better benefit to the friends of the temple leaders, than the non-Jewish people whom God welcomed there. There are many applications we could take away from this conversation, but here are just a few: First, are we allowing any activities in the house of the Lord to get in the way of people coming to talk with God. Second, am I allowing other activities to get in my way of talking with the Lord? Third, are there things in my life that are not just distractions, but downright sinful in God's eyes that He wants to come in and clean house? Finally, am I going to walk away from my talk with the Lord today leaving things in better order than when I came?