Matthew 12:30

Matthew 12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Jesus was not just a good man; He was the very Son of God. So when someone thinks of Jesus, you either love Him as Savior and Lord, or you ignore Him as an impostor pretending to be God Himself. Very few people are indifferent toward Jesus. In our verse for today, Jesus says that you are either for Him or against Him. You are either building up the Kingdom of God or you are tearing it down. And what Jesus said must be so ... or is it? Are you with Jesus or against Him? You decide.

Matthew 12:9,10

Matthew 12:9,10 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. Sometimes people can be mean. The religious leaders in our story for today were downright mean. They were more concerned about catching Jesus in a mistake than they cared for the poor man with a withered hand. This man had never been able to do a full day’s work because he was handicapped. His family was probably poor because he couldn’t earn money like every other able-bodied man. But the religious leaders didn’t care if the man was healed or not – they even knew that Jesus could heal the man. These religious leaders wanted Jesus to heal the man on the Sabbath day so that they could accuse Jesus. These religious leaders didn’t care about people; they cared only about their highfaluting position in church! But Jesus knew their hearts and Jesus called them out for their pride. He put them in their place, and then He healed the man. Jesus was sharp. He took care of two problems at once. And the man went home a complete man! He was able to hug his wife with two good arms! And I’ll bet that was a great hug! He gave his little boy “high five” with a brand new hand!

Matthew 11:28-30

Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. These verses are like our verse from yesterday. When we first read them, they don’t make sense. But if we look a little closer, we see the truth in our verses. And the secret is in the word yoke. The yoke that Jesus was talking about was the yoke that was used to connect two oxen to the plow. One would pull on one side and the other would pull on the other. But often, the farmer would put a trained, hard-working ox on one side of the yoke and a young, inexperienced calf on the other side. The purpose was to train the young calf. The calf would fight the harness and struggle. But the stronger, more mature ox would just go about his work. Soon the young calf would be trained by the older ox. But for a while, the older ox would have to struggle with the younger calf and pull both of their loads. The older oxen was actually carrying the younger one along. And so it is with us and our Savior. If we will just cooperate with Jesus, He will help us in our spiritual journey. He will teach us and train us – that is if we will let Him. But even if we struggle against Jesus and His ways, He will lead us along with His strong control. But, as our verses say, If we will but let Jesus have control, His way is easy; His work is easy. Jesus Himself will do all of the work. We just need to let Him do it. We just need to surrender to Jesus. After all, His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

Matthew 10:39

Matthew 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. This is an interesting verse. If you read it quickly, it seems to contradict itself. But if you look at it more closely, it makes sense. It is sort of like a joke. Here is one: if you hold it, you will lose it. What is it? Your breath. When you first hear the joke, it seems impossible. How can you hold something and at the same time lose it? And that is exactly what Jesus was saying. Jesus said that if you give up your rights to your life and surrender to Him, Jesus will give you a much better life in return. Later Jesus says that the greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who is the least. Another contradiction. If you put others first, you will be the greatest. What a great idea!

Matthew 10:32,33

Matthew 10:32,33 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Jesus is proud of us. But the question is, are we proud of Jesus? Do we stand up for God when someone curses and uses God’s name in vain? Or are we fearful and say nothing. Let’s put it this way, if someone were making fun of your mother, would you speak up and say something? Of course you would! What if someone were making fun of your Granddaddy? Would you take up for him? Of course not! Ha, ha! But it is much more serious if someone curses and uses God’s name in vain. Years ago, I had a coworker who used God’s name in vain constantly. One day I spoke up and asked, “Hey, Alvin, are you a preacher?” He looked startled and confused at the same time and said, “Of course not!” I went on to say, “Well you talk about God so much, I thought that you must be a preacher.” He got the point. He didn’t clean up his language, but at least he knew that I loved God. Hey, do your friends know that you love God? I hope they do.

Matthew 10:29-31

Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. God cares about you. He really, really cares about you! God cares so much about you that He actually knows the number of hairs on your head! Amazing! God cares about the sparrows and animals and plants and planets and stars ... and God cares about you! You are very special to your heavenly Father.