Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and most of us have relatively little information about the day of whom the day is named. Valentine was a bishop from the third century, who while he still remains a saint in the church of Rome, he was pulled from the official church calendar.

The Catholic Church decided a few years ago that there wasn’t enough reliable information on Valentine to keep marking the day. So, society adopted / coopted the day.

Valentine wasn’t known for: mini hearts candy, chocolate, cupid, or lingerie. He actually wasn’t even known for romantic intentions. There are varying accounts of his life; that he rescued children, laid hands on the sick and they were healed, and that he performed marriages in opposition to the emperor’s command, (this is no doubt where the romance part came from).

What would is be like for you, if there were a day set aside in your honor, and hardly anyone knew who you were, or celebrated in a way that had almost nothing to do with you?

If there were a Darius Walden day, it wouldn’t be odd if no one knew who I was, or even that the day existed. It would be odd that if I were no longer around, and that millions of dollars were spent on things connected to my name, that had nothing to do with me.

I hope you see where I’m going with this.

Jesus walks into the temple one day, and He gets angry. He even gets a whip out, and drives people out of the temple. He says, (probably at least loud enough for a few people to hear him), “…my house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” (Matthew 21:13)

Did Jesus not want people to be at the house of prayer? Not at all. The very next verse in Matthew 21 reads “and the blind and lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.” Clearly, the first audience could observe: 1. God’s house (the place where God’s people meet) is to be a place of prayer for everyone. 2. People who are greedy for money will exclude those who cannot come otherwise, (particularly, the poor and rejected). Furthermore, they will do these things under the name of God and attribute what they are doing as God’s activity. 3. What really matters is ministry to people; and God will see to it that His name is not attached to anything that doesn’t honor His name, and heal others.

Let’s keep Jesus the center of attention, and honor his ministry, his house, and his name .

by the way, don’t forget to get some flowers for your sweetheart.