And [Jesus] overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves (Mark 11:15).

This is Jesus at his most violent. For Jesus to get this angry — well, there must have been a constellation of reasons. But surely one was this: a place of prayer had been turned into a place of business. Nothing wrong with business — in fact, business is a great good, part of God’s provision for human life. But nothing, not even something good, should replace a place or a time that had been dedicated and devoted to God.

Have you dedicated a time or place to God? What in your life tends to inch its way in, so that a place of prayer and devotion gets replaced (even by something that might be otherwise good)? How can you keep this from happening? How can you overturn your own tables?

–Mark Galli
This is part of Mark Galli’s guided journal, “Discovering the Untamable God,” a 12-week journey through the Gospel of Mark. Twice a week, you’ll receive a new journaling prompt encouraging you encounter the wild, untamable Jesus of the Gospel of Mark and let his radical sayings and actions transform your life. Use these prompts in your own journal or in group discussion. If you’re joining this journal mid-way through, you can start journaling at any time, and stay subscribed at the end, when the journal will restart and you can receive the prompts that you missed.