Matthew 12:30

Matthew 12:30 ESV Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Jesus makes this statement above in the context of a group of Pharisees challenging Him in regards to His casting out of a demon. They claimed He did it by using demonic power. The Pharisees were religious men who promoted a severe version of Judaism. Despite their desire to honor God by strict adherence to the Law, they now found themselves at odds with God himself.

This is the risk people have when they focus on rules or actions or anything rather than God Himself. While God doesn’t change, sometimes His methods do. Throughout the Old Testament God had talked to the people through prophets. Then about 400 years before Jesus, God stopped talking. It was this silence that led to the Pharisees being created to study what God had said through the prophets.

After 400 years of silence, God was talking again, and the Pharisee didn’t like what He was saying. They were unhappy because what God was saying didn’t agree with their theology. That was because their theology was based on an understanding of God’s Law that had become corrupted over time. Always remember, if your theology disagrees with God, you need to change your theology. I’ve had to do this in the past.

Whenever we keep our attention on what God did in the past we risk missing what God is doing in the present. By holding on to past methods, we might end up working against God. We might end up scattering rather than gathering. The remedy is to keep our spiritual eyes on God, not works or ministries. Then, when God moves, we are ready to follow.

Lord, please help me to see You and what You are doing now.