Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Matthew 12 and Psalm 12

“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” (Matthew 12:30 NLT)

One approach we cannot take towards Jesus is neutrality. Given all that Jesus has revealed to us about God, all the wonders and signs He performed, all His authority over evil, all the power He displayed, all the love He showed to the outcasts and downtrodden, and ultimately His resurrection from the dead, it is clear that He is worthy of only one response: A life of absolute surrender, loyalty, service and worship. To be neutral towards Jesus when we have seen Him (as the Pharisees had) or heard of Him (as we have) is, in fact, to disregard and reject Him.

And when that disregard and rejection has been solidified in a human heart, the sin of v.31-32 has been committed. The Holy Spirit’s great job in the world is to testify to the truth about Jesus (John 15:26). The “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” is therefore a settled decision to reject the testimony of the Holy Spirit regarding Jesus.  It is the state of the human heart when it fully and finally rejects Jesus, and essentially calls the Holy Spirit a Liar in respect to His testimony about Jesus. Jesus was warning the religious leaders that they were very close to this.

Life Application: Let us be obedient to everything we sense Jesus calling us to do and say. If we know what His call is and yet we delay our obedience, time will slowly harden our hearts against Him and His will. Neutrality and disregard will subtly creep closer. Let us therefore choose a posture of surrender and obedience to our King today.