Gather or Scatter?

Proverbs 16:3

Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.

Today’s Reading: Matthew 12:22-37

After Jesus heals this demon-possessed man who was blind and deaf, the people asked ‘could this be the Son of David?’ Are you serious? These people knew the old testament, they knew the prophecies about a Savior and they are honestly thinking could this be him? I am astonished at the lack of belief that some of these people had, I mean they were there. These people witnessed the miracles, they knew the story of his birth, yet they questioned if this was really the Christ. How is my faith when I compare it to these people? I read this and I think it is so simple, why didn’t they recognize him without question and just believe what he said? I go back to myself---do I always recognize him? Do I always believe what he tells me? Shouldn’t it be that simple for me as well? I hear the Spirit guiding me to do something and then I choose not to do it, aren’t I denying who Jesus is when I don’t obey him? Is that any different than the people that questioned if he was really the Son of David---I think not.

A little further down in this chapter Jesus tells us that we are either with him or against him---there is no in between, there is no straddling the fence, we are either all in or all out. If I claim to be all in, I need to listen to him and do what he says every time. Will I ever be perfect and do everything I am suppose to do perfectly? No, but when I know that God is whispering in my ear and I ignore the voice, then I am against him. To be quite honest this scares me a bit, I do not want to be against him in the least, but that is why I have to wake up everyday and say today Jesus you are first, no matter what falls onto my path today, you will be first. I do not have it within myself to do this, I have to rely on God guiding me and being in control of my life. God’s Word tells us if we are not gathering with Jesus then we are scattering. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be the one known as the scatterer. When I think about scattering I think about people that cause strife, or confusion, or chaos among others, and therefore scatters people away from God. You know when I think about this, someone that does all this scattering is doing the work for Satan---even if they don’t realize what they are doing. Scary huh? If I am not doing the work that Jesus has given me to do then I am doing Satan’s work. That sounds harsh, but I see it no other way, there is no other way. We either serve Christ with our heart, mind, and soul, or we don’t serve him at all. He wants all of us, not just a small part.

We are definitely recognized by the fruit that we bare and I want to bare and share good fruit with everyone around me. I think this is an inside out thing----what we have deep within us is what will come out, what we put inside our heart, mind, and soul grows within us and changes who we are. We decide what we will allow inside of us, no one can do this for us. What ever we choose to read, watch, or listen to are the things that grow within us, those are the things that we think upon and those are the things that will affect our fruit. Jesus even said, “for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” We have to be choosy about the things that we allow in our lives. I think about the tomato plant that I just planted. If I water it with contaminated water everyday then the tomatoes will not be any good---it would be useless as a tomato plant and eventually it would just wither and die. This plant was meant to be a tomato plant and produce tomatoes, just as we were meant to be a child of God and produce good fruit that gives others a taste of who Jesus is. I have to live as I was meant to live, if not than I will just wither away and die---and what good is that?

With Much Love & Prayers!