Superficial or Profound?

Thank you, children! Boy, that was fun! Well, the technical stuff wasn't so fun, but... But when we got it right, you guys did really good, so we really appreciate that. Thanks for all the work. You know, they've been practicing that for quite a while. It's always a challenge because you never can really get up on stage and practice with the microphones and getting on and off and all that. So it's always a little bit of a challenge that way. But you guys did a very good job. Thank you so much for all the work that you put in. And I did hear a...maybe it's a secret? No, maybe it's not. They're going to be singing in a few weeks from now as well. Is that right? All right. So we'll put you back to work again. So thank you. Really appreciate all the work that went into that, and thanks for sharing that with us. Of course, here we are at the beginning of the Days of Unleavened Bread. It seems the time's leading up to the Days of Unleavened Bread. We've had a major project. If you had a major project in your household, getting the house clean, getting the house de-leavened. I looked up that word, and I think it's been coined by the Church of God, de-leavened. Unleavened. We've unleavened our homes. Coming to the Passover in the Days of Unleavened Bread certainly allows us that opportunity.

And yet God wants us to learn so much more than just having a clean house, doesn't He? There's some spiritual lessons that we're to learn. So as you were getting ready for the Days of Unleavened Bread, were there lessons that perhaps you wrote down that you've been learning? That you're trying to change in your life? Perhaps things that you found not so much in the cracks in the corners of your home, but maybe in your life? Perhaps a question at this time of the year, are we doing something that is superficial? Or are we doing something that's profound?

Certainly cleanliness, cleaning, purity, all of those things are major themes during this season of the year. And in fact, in the Bible, there are quite a few examples of cleaning jobs that were done in biblical times. I thought what we could do this afternoon is take a look at two of those, two major cleaning jobs that took place in biblical times, and look at some of the lessons that we can learn with what God is doing today. Is God doing something superficial, or is God doing something profound? Over in 2 Chronicles 34 is the first cleaning job I'd like to take a look at. 2 Chronicles 34, right at the very beginning of that chapter, we find a new king coming to power, and it is King Josiah, the boy king. He began to rule, took the throne when he was only eight years old. So can you imagine? King Josiah would have been up here singing in the children's choir.

So here's the story of King Josiah 2 Chronicles 34, right at the beginning of that chapter. We find some interesting things happen during his reign. During his reign, Judah gains independence from Assyria, and Josiah began to change things. Through his counselors, through those that were helping him reign, he began to reform things. And we read about that in chapter 34. Let's notice that. Verse 1, Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David. He didn't turn to the right hand or to the left. So there's something different about Josiah right away that we read here in 2 Chronicles. He was quite different from so many of the kings, probably the majority of the kings. He did what was right. He did what was right. Well, what was it that he did? Let's notice, verse 3. In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. And in the twelfth year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. All the pagan idols that had basically taken over Judah, it says he began to get rid of them. He began to cut them down. He broke them. Look at verse 4. He broke down the altars of the bales in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them. He cut down the wooden images, the carved images, the molded images. He broke in pieces. He made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. So he began to change things. He began to change the culture. He began to do things differently.

It was an interesting time in history when Josiah began to reign, especially as he began to make these huge changes throughout Judah. Historian John Bright wrote something interesting in a book called The History of Israel. He said this about the time of Josiah. This is on page 320. He said, It says, The dikes were cracking. It says, It was a dangerous time, a time when men needed the help of gods. Judah was not exempt.

Side by side with the excitement of a newly found independence, there walked a profound unease, a premonition of judgment, together with the feeling that the nation's security lay in a return to ancient tradition.

Now, it's interesting when you read of some of the things that John Bright wrote. It almost sounds a little eerie for today. Is there an anxiety that's in the air today, that things can't continue the way that they've been going? That there are holes in the dike. They're cracking. This world's systems just aren't working any longer.

And of course, for Josiah, it was turning back the hands of time, going back, going back in time, finding what the worship of the true God was all about. And that's what he began to do. And so we read here in verse 6 of chapter 34.

It says, he did this in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far of Naphthaliah, and all around with axes. So he took out these pagan idols and altars. When he'd broken down the altars and the wooden images, and had beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars, it says he returned to Jerusalem. And so he began to purge them. He probably felt he knew God.

He probably felt that he was doing God's will, because he was taking care of all these altars, all the false gods, all these pagan images. Of course, he was David's descendant. David had been given promises for a dynasty that wouldn't end. And perhaps, as he went about accomplishing these things, he felt that he knew God. Of course, Judah had trusted in these pagan idols. Yet, as long as that temple was still there, somehow God was with them. Somehow they felt that God hadn't deserted them, even though they had left God.

Well, they had the temple! And with the temple of God right in their midst, they were okay. They would be all right. Nothing could really happen that would be that bad. All things might look a little difficult. They might be threatened, but nothing really terrible could happen, could it?

Well, as time went on, some interesting things began to happen during Josiah's reign. It says, in the eighteenth year of his reign, in verse 8, he had purged the land and the temple, and he sent Shaphan, the son of Azalea, Messiah, the governor of the city, Joah, the son of Joahaz, sorry, the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. So now they're going to repair the temple. They're going to bring it to its former glory again.

So they began that work to fix the temple. And as they did this, something happened. They were making collections to repair the temple. They hired the craftsmen to do the job. Verse 14, when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the Lord given by Moses.

They found the law. They found a copy of the book of the law. It's sort of been in the eighteenth year of Josiah. So what were they to do about this? This had been lost. So they brought it to him. Notice what happens. Verse 15, Hilkiah answered Shaphan the scribe and said, I found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.

So Shaphan, verse 16, carried the book to the king, bringing the king the word, saying, All that was committed to your servants they are doing. And they gathered the money in the house, and they delivered it into the hands of the overseers and the workmen. Then, verse 18, Shaphan the scribe told the king, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book, and Shaphan read it before the king. As he read this book, something significant begins to happen. Josiah tells them, Go, verse 21, inquire of the Lord for me, and for those who are left in Israel and Judah concerning the words of the book that's found.

For great is the wrath of the Lord that's poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord to do according to all that's written in the book. And so they inquire of the prophetess. And she talks about what ultimately will happen to the nation because of their disobedience. But as for Josiah, because he heard the words, because it changed him. Notice verse 27, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place, and you humbled yourself before me, and you tore your clothes and wept before me, I have heard you, says the Lord.

Now it's interesting, after hearing the word of God, after hearing the book of the law, it changed Josiah. I'm sure he probably thought he was already doing God's will. And yet the covenant, this covenant with God, brought him face to face with the fact that he really didn't know God. That he didn't know God the way that God wanted to know him.

He had heard of God, but here Josiah is jolted to reality. What was the requirement of the law? Sure, there were lots of things that physically they had to do. But ultimately, the law required a deeper relationship with God. It wasn't merely just getting rid of the altars. It wasn't merely getting rid of the pagan God. It meant a change of heart. It meant change. Josiah really didn't know God. And so his nation now had to conform to the covenant, conform to God's covenant. And so changes began. Changes began. They celebrated the Passover in the days of Unleavened Bread. They read the book of the law.

It seemed that there was going to be monumental change in Judah. Perhaps finally, they could be that model nation that God intended them to be. So look at verse 33 and chapter 34. It says, Thus Josiah removed all the abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel, from everybody personally as well. And he made all who were present in Israel diligently serve the Lord their God. All his days they didn't depart from following the Lord God of their fathers.

So finally, we see the result. What was the result of Josiah turning to God? How did it affect the people of the nation? Were they finally the model God intended them to be? No. For a little while, it was okay. But how long did the reforms last? How long did change actually impact the nation? Well, if you were to read the rest of the story, really only till his death.

Only till his death. By the time he dies, within 12 years, the Chaldean empire overruns Judah. Within 12 years. So what took place during the time of Josiah wasn't something that changed the heart and the mind of the people. And I think there's a tremendous lesson in this forest. Here, Josiah went to the trouble of taking up collections to repair the temple.

And by the time we get to 12 years later, the temple is in ruins. It wasn't a permanent change. It wasn't an impact that lasted. It wasn't a renewal that was a permanent one. It wasn't the change that God expected of them. But why not? Why didn't the change last? Why didn't the renewal impact the people permanently? Why wasn't the restoration one that continued? Well, I think the answer lies into the meaning of Passover and Unleavened Bread. That's where the answer is. Is it a superficial change or is it a profound change?

See, I think that's our first cleaning lesson from the story of Josiah. Outer altercations are inadequate. When we just make external changes, it's not enough. Just changing what's on the outside? Is that the kind of alteration that we're supposed to have? Or does God expect something deeper? Does God expect change on the inside? You see, on the outside, Josiah rid the nation. But it didn't impact the people's hearts and minds. It seemed to make a difference for Josiah himself. But for the people, for the nation, the reforms were just more style than real substance. They reformed the temple, certainly.

Certainly they changed the priesthood. They reinstated the outward forms of worship. All of that was done, no doubt. They kept the Holy Days, right? They did the sacrifices. They reinstituted those things. But did it really change who they were? You see, it was only an external thing. That was the problem. Jeremiah the prophet understood that. If you turn over to Jeremiah 4 and verse 3.

Jeremiah chapter 4 verse 3. Jeremiah understood when you only alter the outside appearance. That's not enough. That is inadequate. External change is a facade that won't last. Jeremiah the prophet understood that. Let's notice this as he was inspired by God to prophesy.

Verse 3, thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord. Take away the foreskin of your hearts, you men of Judah, in the habitants of Jerusalem. Lest my fury come forth like fire. If you follow along, look at verse 3 again. The contemporary English version says this.

People of Jerusalem and Judah, don't be so stubborn. Your hearts have become hard like unplowed ground where thorn bushes grow. With all your hearts keep the covenant I made with you. But if you're stubborn and keep on sinning, my anger will burn like a fire that cannot be put out. That's what Jeremiah understood. If you look down to verse 14.

O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness. Now is the time to be clean, in other words. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you? He says, now is the time to change. Now is the time to be clean. Now is the time to clean up your act, in other words. You see, Jeremiah understood there had to be deep repentance. That's what was needed. Not just an exterior cleaning, but an interior change.

An internal cleansing of the heart. Not just a superficial clean temple. Not just a superficial clean nation with no idols or altars to pagan gods. Jeremiah understood God expected the profound. It had to be something different. Something precise. Something that happens on the inside.

I learned a little bit about this a while back. Our home in Minnesota had apple trees on it. And as the apples were becoming ripe, we started to pick some of those apples that first year. And it was like, oh no! This one has a worm! You know, that's bad. It's not any fun finding worms in apples, right? Well, maybe there is one thing that's worse.

It's worse than finding a worm in your apple. Yes, you know, right. Finding half a worm in your apple. That's really bad. So, oh, we should have sprayed this. Because all these apples were boring into the apples and ruining them all. But then my neighbor, Mr.

Buck, came over and he was talking to me about these apples. And he said, you know, you've got to spray these things. He says, I've got this really good organic herbicide that will take care of these worms and you've got to spray them. It's like, well, okay, well, do we do that now? When do we do this? He said, no, you've got to do this in the spring of the year when the flowers are just first coming out.

And I said, well, why would that be the time? He said, because the worms are in the blossoms. And the apple, most worms, will actually be in the blossom. And once that apple is starting to form, that egg where the worm is hatches, and the worms are already right there in the core of the apple. And I never knew that before. So what the hole is showing on the outside is that worm bored its way out rather than working its way in. It already was there at the heart of that apple. I thought, well, that is interesting, that it was already there from the inside to begin with.

So it wasn't an exterior problem, it was an inner problem. And it reminded me of that when I read this particular passage here in Jeremiah. You know, what's in our heart? What is in our mind? Here Jeremiah took that real message.

The real message was a spiritual message that God was trying to get them to understand. That there has to be a change of our hearts and a change of our mind. Just cleaning things up on the outside is not what it's all about. And of course, Jeremiah was famous for that, wasn't he?

If you flip over to chapter 31, verse 31, we see it was that time for a personal change, for a deep relationship with God. Notice what God inspired Jeremiah. He says, Verse 33, As we think about that, I wonder if that's why Josiah tore his garments, when he heard the word of the law, when he realized how far off the mark, even with all of the reforms that he had, how far off what God's ultimate purpose really was. Perhaps he did realize that these external reforms were not enough in the Passover, in the days of Unleavened Bread.

Even though they kept it like no other time since the days of Samuel, he realized just doing that on the outside wasn't enough. And I think that's a great understanding that we must have. We clean our houses. We vacuum our cars. Is that enough? Are we really seeing deeply enough? Are we thinking more deeply about why we clean, why we unleaven our homes? Are we just doing it superficially?

Well, my house is clean. I'm ready for Passover. Ready for the days of Unleavened. Is that true? I got my cars de-leavened, so I'm ready. Are we any better than Judah or Israel if that's our perspective? If we only have that superficial approach to God and His holy days, I think we miss the point.

Because we do go to great lengths oftentimes to clean up our homes and get all the leavening out, make sure every little piece, we vacuum that mat in the car 30 times over, and still little things are coming out of there. I can't believe that. We go through all this physical preparation, and yet think about it. How much does physical preparation accomplish? How much does the physical preparation accomplish toward the real job that must be done, that's pictured by these days? How much does that really accomplish?

Nothing. It doesn't accomplish anything toward the real purpose, because the real purpose is not a physical purpose, is it? I'm not saying it doesn't accomplish anything. If it's helping us to be reminded of spiritual things, spiritual responsibilities that we have, that's great. But the real job of cleansing isn't our carpets. It's not our kitchen.

It's not getting rid of the loaf of bread. That's not the real job. Yes, that has to be done, no doubt. But the real job of cleansing has to take place in our hearts and in our minds. It has to take place in our thoughts and in our actions. So more importantly than searching our kitchens for leaven, we better be searching our hearts.

We better be searching our minds for the things that aren't measuring up to the standards of God. Because Josiah's reforms remind us that it goes so much farther than the external. The cleansing that he did didn't take root. It didn't last. But the cleansing that we're called to do, yes, we're reminded of it as we get the leavening out. But that cleansing that we're to have better last.

Because what's going to happen by next Friday night? We'll meet you at the pizza parlor, right? We'll be eating leavening again! So it's not just part of the—we better learn the spiritual lesson of unleavening our homes and make sure the spiritual cleansing is the thing that ultimately lasts. Because part of that spiritual cleaning lesson is that, boy, Josiah cleaned that temple. But what happened ultimately? It laid in ruins as the Chaldeans came in.

It was brought down that temple was defiled again. But for us, you see, part of the lesson of unleavened bread is that we better keep the temple clean. We better keep the temple clean. That's a major cleaning lesson. Not only the fact that it can't just be an external thing.

Outer alterations are inadequate. But a second lesson is that the temple better stay clean. The temple has to stay clean. There's an interesting example of this over in the book of John. John 2, verse 13. Josiah cleaned up the temple worship. He cleaned up the temple itself. They read the book of the law. They kept the holy days. But it didn't impact total, complete, lasting change, lasting reform. Now, here when we fast forward to the ministry of Jesus Christ, we find at the beginning of His ministry, something interesting happens at the temple.

Let's notice this cleaning lesson. John 2, verse 13. Guess what time of the year it is? It's this time of the year. It's the time of the Passover in the days of unleavened bread. John 2, verse 13, it says, Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand. Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and He found in the temple those who sold oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the money changers doing business.

So here we are at the beginning of the ministry of Christ, the beginning of the book of John. It says, When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen, and He poured out the changers' money, overturned the tables, and He said to those who sold doves, Take these things away. Do not make my Father's house a house of merchandise. Then His disciples remembered what was written, Zeal for your house has eaten me up.

So as Christ began His ministry, He turned over the tables in the temple. Now, why was that? I mean, this was something that had been going on for a long time. There were shops in the court of the Gentiles in the temple area, and they sold the things that were needed for the sacrifices.

So if you came into town and traveled a long way, you couldn't bring all those things with you. That would have been very difficult. And so they turned those things into money, brought the money so they could buy the wine, or the salt, or the doves, or the olives, or the oil. They could buy the things that were necessary for sacrifice. The money changers, they were there, really initially for a good purpose.

People from various areas of the empire, they would bring Greek coins, they would bring Roman coins, and they'd have to change them to a Judean coin so that they could pay the temple tax, so the temple wouldn't fall into ruin again. And so, was that a bad thing? That they could support the repair of the temple? Of course, what it became was the challenge. What developed as a result of something that probably started out as a good thing turned into something different. It turned into something where they could make a profit from. It became a way of making money. It debased the temple into just a commercial thing. So God's temple wasn't being put to the use that it was intended. So Christ clearly said, Do not make my father's house a house of merchandise. Because I can make a buck off of it, is what they thought. So Christ overturned those tables. He drove out the animals. Drove out those money changers. And what happened? What happened when Christ left?

They set up the tables, brought the animals back, they started selling things, they started changing the money all over again. They just went back to business as usual. It was just a little inconvenience.

And so overturning the tables didn't last. In a way, almost like sin, He overturned it for a moment, but the people didn't listen. They didn't heed the warning. They weren't diligent. And so just like sin, they just set those tables back up again. Just like that worm. Sin can just worm its way into our lives when we are not careful. And I think, here being in the temple, being in that area, doing God a service, I'm sure they thought that way, what was wrong with what they were doing? And they didn't understand the effects of sin. And so what Christ did didn't last. It didn't last. Now, it's interesting. A couple of years later, Christ comes back into the temple. He comes back again. Look at Mark 11. In Mark 11, verse 11, we can begin there, Mark 11. Christ comes back to the temple years later. And guess what happens? Mark 11, verse 11, Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. And when He looked around at all things, says the hour was late, and He went out to Bethany with the twelve. So He went to the temple and He looked around. He didn't immediately do anything. He took stock of what was happening there. He looked and saw what was taking place. Now, the next day, the next day, He says He was hungry. He goes through this thing with the fig tree. Verse 15, ultimately, comes to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the temple. He goes in again the next day. What did He do? Well, it says He began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple. And He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. And 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. You see, some think that this is the same event that happened over in the book of John, but it seems to be a different event. And it makes more sense, I think, to understand it that way. That at the very beginning of His ministry, He cleaned out the temple. The very end of His ministry, we're right before the crucifixion. That's the Passover time we're talking about here. He cleans it up again. He expected His temple to be clean.

So at the beginning of His ministry, at the close of His ministry, He cleansed the temple. And of course, the people's reaction? Instead of understanding the deep significance, how profound an event this really was, what did the leadership do? Verse 18, the scribes and the chief priests heard it, and they sought how they might destroy Him. For they feared Him because of all the people and were astonished at His teaching. This wasn't anything superficial. This was something profound.

And the leadership seems to have understood there was something profound going on, and they didn't want any part of it. They didn't want any part of that kind of a change. That would mean their authority would be gone. That would mean they would no longer be in power. That means the people's loyalty would no longer be to the leadership.

It would be to the Savior, to the Messiah, to Christ. So they didn't want any part of that. Now, as you think about that, where is the temple today? Well, we're the temple, aren't we? Christ wants to enter His spiritual temple, our lives today. And so do we allow that to be a superficial thing? Or is that something profound? You could write down Revelation 3.20. That pictures Christ knocking at the door. And it says, If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into Him and dine with Him.

Christ is knocking on the door of our hearts and our minds, and He expects a profound reaction from us, because we are the temple of God. You can write down 1 Corinthians 3.16. We are the temple of God.

If the Spirit of God is dwelling in us, we are God's temple. And Revelation, it talks about Him measuring that temple, taking note of that temple, similar to the account here in the book of Mark, that He walks in that temple and He looks around, and He takes note of what's happening in that temple.

Revelation 11 talks about a measuring rod where He measures that temple. I think that's more than just a physical thing that He's measuring. He's looking at us. Now, we consider that as an unleavened bread lesson. Do we consider that? Are we considering the fact that at the days of unleavened bread, God wants to undo our table. He wants to overturn the tables in our life. Because anything that's not holy is unacceptable before God. God wants us not just to overturn our houses. We overturn our houses and we pick up the little carpets and we sweep out the corners and we get out all the leavening and we take that out of our cabinets.

But you see, that's not the ultimate lesson. So much more importantly, Christ overturned the tables, not for a physical purpose, so that there would be a greater spiritual understanding. Our worldliness, He wants to overturn. The standards by which we often gauge our life by. He says that's unacceptable unless it measures up to the standards of God. So His expectations are cleanliness. We have to change. God has turned the table on us.

So if we focus on any other thing, we're not looking at the right aspects of life, are we? What do you think those merchants were looking at when Christ came in? They were looking at Christ. What do you think they were doing when He was driving out the animals? They were focused on Christ. And the leadership was so focused on Him that they said, we've got to do something about this guy.

We're going to lose our control over the people. Now for you and I, it shouldn't really be any different, should it? We have to focus on Christ. If we are focused only on de-leavening our homes, we've missed the point. We've missed the point. Christ has to be at the center of our thinking.

So when He overturns the tables, we have to be focused on Him. That is His will for our lives. If we are focused on anything else, we have missed the purpose. We can't allow anything to compete with Jesus Christ in our life. So what's competing with Christ in our life? What's competing with... What is hindering us from being more focused on allowing Christ to live in us and through us? What's impeding us from greater spiritual growth? What's hampering us from accomplishing God's will more fully in our lives?

You see, if anything is competing with Christ, those tables have to be overturned. Those things have to be driven out. That has to impact our thinking in our hearts and our minds. You see, Christ overturned the tables of those animal merchants because sacrifice of animals was no longer necessary. So are we focused on the fact that Christ is our eternal sacrifice? You see, we don't have to exchange money anymore for a temple tax. The building's been paid for, hasn't it? Christ has paid the price for us. Are we focused on that? Do we realize that at the heart of our very being so that it changes who we are?

You see, Jesus is at the center of the temple. He is the new covenant. He is the Messiah. He is the Savior. And that has to be reflected in who we are. So we can ask ourselves, is He the center of my life, my temple? Is He at the heart and core of that temple? And if He is, we have to keep that temple unleavened. We have to keep it that way. That's profound. That's significant. That's evidence that Christ is in us. If we just go through the week and we change our cooking, we change where we eat, if we don't eat that bread, we miss the point.

If it's only a dietary thing, we totally miss the significance of the spiritual lessons God wants us to learn. I heard the story of a couple of confirmed bachelors were facing the days of unleavened bread. And one of them said, Yeah, I got an unleavened bread cookbook once. And the guy said, Oh, really?

How did that go? He said, I just couldn't do anything with it. He said, What was it? Just two complicated recipes, too difficult, too fancy? What was the problem? He said, Yeah, no kidding. It was just too hard. He said, Every recipe started out exactly the same way. And somebody said, Really? What was that? He said, Oh, it started out, Take a clean dish.

You see what's interesting? God's given us a clean dish, hasn't He? We've come through the Passover. We recognize that. We rededicate our lives to God. We recommit ourselves to our baptism, to the agreement that we made at that time, that Jesus is our Savior. He is our life. He is our focus. And 1 Corinthians 5, 7, it reminds us, we are unleavened. We are truly unleavened. Remember what that says? Purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, for you are truly unleavened.

God has given us a clean dish, a clean life. When we are repented before Him, we are forgiven. We are clean. And so unleavened bread reminds us, don't set up those tables again. Don't bring back all of that leavening back into your life. Don't allow sin to come back in, because you are unleavened. So let's think about that this week.

If you accidentally pull into McDonald's, are you just going to turn around and go out? Or is there a spiritual lesson in that? We are going to say, wait a second, I've got to set my mind on the things of the Spirit. That's what I need. I've got to quit thinking about my stomach, because I'm hungry. That's why I pulled in here in the first place. But wait a second. That should be a spiritual reminder. Okay, I've got to change the way I think and start thinking on a spiritual plane. Start making sure I don't pull into that area that distributes sin.

That's what's more important. And when I eat that matzo, what do I think about that? Or do I just think, well, I can't have a bagel this week. Or is it something deeper? Or is it something more profound? If we're eating that flat piece of bread, I think it is fair we can enjoy it. Or maybe we're just thinking, that's kind of dry and hard to swallow. Well, you know, what's hard to swallow? Pride is hard to swallow. Do we think about putting pride out of our life when we eat that flat matzo? Do we think about something outside of ourselves? Oh, yeah, all I can eat is… Does that help us take it to a spiritual level?

It should. Every time we eat something that's unleavened, is there something spiritual that… Can we make it our goal this week? Because we've changed our diet, can we think of something spiritual when we eat that matzo? When we eat that almond bread? Or when we eat that flat bread? Can we think of something spiritual? Can we think of service to others? Can we think about swallowing our pride and moving to a spiritual level of cooperation, of helpfulness? You know, what are the things that should come to your mind when you eat that matzo?

Or if we happen to take a big bite of that leavened bread, maybe we don't think of it until, oh, no, it's already in my mouth. We go to Walmart and we already got the pretzel. We already ate half of it, and then, oh, no, now it dawns on me. I'm not supposed to be eating this! You know, if we take a big bite of that leavened bread… It should be a reminder we've got to replace it with… Just because we get it out, we stop eating it this week. What are we replacing it with?

Are we taking a big bite of jealousy? Are we taking a big bite of envy? You know, if that's an issue for us, we've got to think the opposite. What are we replacing that jealousy with? What are we replacing that… Are we replacing it with trust? Are we replacing it with being generous? Are we replacing those things with something spiritual, a godly trait, that we're getting rid of the bitterness? We put that out, and now I'm going to strive this week to be more forgiving, to be more compassionate, to be more merciful.

You see, those are the things that we want to be thinking about. If we're going to overcome, and we're going to keep those tables of sin overturned and out of our life, if it's not just going to be an external thing, those are the kinds of things we want to replace in our thinking. And if we bite a big donut of anger, we better make sure we get rid of it and replace it with patience. Don't we? We can take the donut hole.

There's no leveling in the holes I hear. We've got a donut hole of tolerance, a donut hole of understanding, a donut hole of forgiveness. You see, and it changes our way of thinking. If those tables of the money changes are overturned in our lives, we have to realize, you know, money isn't what it's all about. That's not what's most important. How important are people in your life?

How important is the Church of God? How important is the body of Christ? I think Unleavened Bread should be that reminder to us that it's not just about me, but it's about the people of God. And so, this week, let's make it our goal to live that object lesson. Because Unleavened Bread gives us that object lesson for a new way of thinking. And so, let's strive this week to keep that dish clean, to keep our temple swept out and pure.

Let's keep those tables overturned. I have a scripture of the week that you could write down, something that I'm going to strive to keep at the forefront of my mind this week. It's found in Colossians 3, right at the very beginning of that chapter, Colossians 3, verse 1. I'm going to strive to keep this at the forefront of my mind this week and take those two lessons to heart. The story of Josiah and the story of Christ overturning the tables. Colossians 3.1, I think it's an Unleavened Bread reminder, isn't it? Let's notice that. Colossians 3.1, it says, If then you were raised with Christ, and I have to stop and say, yes, I was raised with Christ.

I went in the waters of baptism, and I came up, and I was raised to be a new creation in Christ. I had a minister lay hands on me, and God gave me his Holy Spirit. And you can say the same thing if you've been baptized. You were raised with Christ. And if that's the case, as we've come through Passover and we've rededicated ourselves to following him, he says, now, those tables, they're gone. The temple is swept clean.

Now, do something profound. He says, Seek those things which are above, where Christ is. It's not just about unleavening our cabinets, having no bread in our homes. That's supposed to remind us of something much more significant than just a physical thing. Set our mind on those things which are above, where Christ is. Sitting at the right hand of God, set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. That's a powerful passage. Just an amazing passage. When you think about this, because I have to ask myself, how much is my life really hidden with Christ? Or is Steve just shining through? You see, all too often, I shine through and Christ isn't shining through. And in loving bread is there to remind me to more fully allow Christ to live His life in me and through me. Let Him shine through. My life, the way I think, the way I would do things, I've got to get rid of that. That's got to be overturned and stay overturned. And with Christ, when He is our life, when He is our focus, when we set our mind on His kind of thinking, when we allow His attitude and His mind to live in us and through us, then something profound is possible. It is possible. In fact, it's more than possible. It's going to happen. Because that's what it says here. Just like Christ walked in that temple and He looked around, and He took stock of what was going on, we see in the end that's what's going to happen when Christ, our life, who is our life, appears. You've got to take a look at His temple. He's going to take a look at you and I.

And if our life is hidden in Him, what's the result?

He says the result, you also will appear with Him in glory. That's a done deal. That is a sure thing. We keep those tables of sin overturned in our lives, and Christ is our focus, and that temple is abiding. We are abiding in Him. Christ is in us.

He says you will appear with Him in glory.

So that's a powerful message of unleavened bread. So as we go through this week, let's remember the story of Josiah. Let's remember it's not just about the external. It's not just about what's on the outside. Much more importantly, it's about what's on the inside.

So let's allow God to keep those tables of sin overturned in our life. And let's really be a spiritually unleavened temple.

And as we do that this week, we'll definitely move beyond the superficial, and we will profoundly change and grow.