With Or Against?

He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

Matthew 12:30

Christ is not someone about Whom we can be neutral. We often encounter groups who are promoting various agendas. The more ardent proponents declare, ‘If you are not promoting our agenda, then you are against us.’ This is a claim that there is no neutrality about whatever the issue happens to be. In the light of that position, we come to Christ’s statement in our text, ‘he who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.’ This is a serious statement and not one to take lightly. Christ did not always say easy things. The question becomes, what does He mean, and where do we land in terms of being with Him or against Him? What does it mean to be with Christ and to gather with Him? What does it mean to be against Christ? We do not want to lightly pass over these questions because they mean the difference between being with God or against God; to be His friend or His enemy; to be accepted with Him or rejected by Him. Before we pursue this text any further, let us spend some time today dwelling on the depth and the gravity of it, ‘He that is not with me is against me.’

Our Gracious Master and our God,
we rejoice that You set before us
the most serious issues of time and of eternity.
We praise You that by Your Holy Spirit,
You bring us to contemplate them
so that we may arrive at the conclusion
which most glorifies You.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning