For or Against

Anyone who is not with Me is against Me, and anyone who does not gather with Me scatters.

Matthew 12:30

Christ leaves us no neutral ground, no place to stand where we are on the sidelines of spiritual warfare. We are always engaged in some way or another in choosing to serve Him, to help His cause, to grow closer to God, to obey and follow, or we are choosing to go against Him, to harm His cause, and to grow fonder of the world.

In sports not every player plays the entire game, or even while in the game do they handle the ball, or is the strategy so dependent on their position. But it is still expected that every player, even those who are sitting on the bench, be entirely committed to their team winning. Every soldier, also, may not be on the front line of the battle, but they are expected to be helping their side to win in whatever small way they can. And the same is true all the way down the line — in business, in medicine, in politics, in education, whatever.

So Christ applies this principle to His work, and, in fact, we find this is not a borrowed idea from the world. The point that He is making is the great dividing line within the entire human race for all history — those for God and those opposed to God. The very nature of this principles helps us to interpret our relation to God. We are not like customers shopping for the truth — a customer has no obligation to be loyal to a store — he can choose where to shop and will look for the best bargain. No, we are not religious customers that decided to purchase a spiritual product from Christ.

He calls us sons and daughters (John 1:12) and citizens of His kingdom (Philippians 3:20) and soldiers in His spiritual army (2 Tim. 2:3), all positions that demand complete loyalty.

For every action of disloyalty the Lord will forgive us as we confess (1 John 1:9–10), but our hearts He claims as His own, and He will not demand less of us than our all. So ask the Lord to show you the areas of your life where you are scattering rather than gathering. He will surely answer this prayer that you may help Him and His cause in all that you do.

And in so doing, you will have more joy and more peace, and be a blessing to many, many others for Christ’s cause.