For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Matt. 12
What is the relationship between our hearts and our words? Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Matt. 12:30). That is quite a statement! The first thing I see in it is that our hearts are inherently opposed to God. That is because our nature is centered on self. We have to let go of self in order to go with God. Without that conscious decision, we stand against Him. As they say, not to decide is to decide not to.
The second half of that statement really caught my attention, though. The thing I see in it is that harmony, peace, unity, love, care for and about others – all the things that would be associated with “gathering” – come from God’s Spirit. So if we aren’t letting God’s Spirit fill and rule our hearts, then we promote the opposite of these things. We “scatter”. The result is division, discord, conflict, hate and care only for self-gain. Thus, because our words come from what’s in our hearts, our words will either gather or scatter.
The concepts in Jesus’ statement are demonstrated so clearly to me in today’s culture. Everywhere I look I see harsh reactions to differing perspectives, flat out denial of the truth and lifting up lies as truth, divisive speech, conflict, and people hiding behind seemingly good things for personal gain. Signs of human nature all over the place!! Whatever others around me are doing, I pray that God’s Spirit would continue to rule in my heart daily. Let me quietly go about gathering in the midst of all the noise.
Is. 57-58
What are the marks of true fasting? I have come to see God’s Sabbath as setting aside our own efforts and finding rest in God’s salvation through faith. I see in Isaiah 58 that fasting is a similar thing. Where the Sabbath demonstrates letting go of our own efforts, fasting demonstrates letting go of our own desires. We set aside what we naturally hunger and thirst for and learn instead to hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness.
God also makes it clear that putting on a pretentious show of righteousness and humility doesn’t cut it. Setting aside a day to not work or to not eat is meaningless. What God wants are humble hearts that seek and serve Him. God called out those who did as they pleased while they fasted. He also said that people dishonored the Sabbath by going their own way. This addresses the issue frequently seen in the New Testament of people using faith as a license for freedom to do as they pleased. True faith, leading to true righteousness, comes when we completely set aside self and live in humble obedience to God.
Ps. 115
It is not the dead who praise the LORD, those who go down to the place of silence; it is we who extol the LORD, both now and forevermore. Praise the LORD” (Ps. 115:17-18). The dead don’t praise the LORD. Or maybe, those who don’t praise the LORD are dead. Same thing, right? Obviously, the physically dead won’t be singing praises to God, but it occurred to me that the spiritually dead – which is all of us before Jesus – don’t either. Praising God is something that comes as a result of realizing His amazing grace. And it leads to life.