Luke 11:23
Rebecca Lightfoot
N Luke11:23,Jesus says,”Whoever is not with me is against me,& whoever does not gather with me scatters.”If my life is not “with” Jesus,then He says that I am against Him.The way I speak,act,think,etc., if these things are not the ways that Jesus teaches me to speak,act,think...,then there are parts of my life that are at the very least not supporting what Jesus is desiring to do in my life,nor in the lives of people that I come into contact with every moment of my day.Jesus actually says that when my life is not following Him,my life is “against Him”!Jesus next is saying that if I am not responsive to His work in and around me,that I am actually “scattering” what He desires to do n and around me! (A definition of Gather is: to bring together; to pick up or amass as if by harvesting; to serve as an attraction for; to summon up courage;to gain by gradual increase; to prepare (oneself) by mustering strength;to gain or regain control of wits;to reach a conclusion often intuitively from hints or through inferences;
;to draw about or close to something;to come together in a body).If I am not “gathering with Jesus”-seeking to learn His Ways and then assimilate them into my life regularly-then my life is not being used by The Lord for His purposes,but quite the contrary is happening!My life is not helping Kingdom causes at all,but instead...my life is a source of confusion and scattering to not only myself,but to those around me!I can be disciplined in my daily devotional time w The Lord,and still be “against Him” if I am not taking to heart what The Lord is revealing to me during the time I spend w Him!Additionally,if I am not “gathering” what The Lord is teaching me/showing me/doing around me...,for the purpose of making these things a part of my life,then I am “scattering” what The Lord is doing in my life and around my life....,just as a wind scatters what is not gathered and stored.I need to look for what God speaks into my life&heart about,& then gather/capture these things so they r not “scattered” from my life,but “gathered” for the purposes that The Lord is active with in my life and around my life.No wonder at many times it seems that Jesus is far away;if I am not seeking Him and then gathering what He is saying and doing,then I am allowing His speaking to me and what He is showing me to be scattered away by the other stuff of life...that contend for my heart/mind/life/spirit.Dear Jesus,forgive me for many times JUST reading...,and JUST praying,without being deliberate about taking to heart what YOU are saying and doing!Dear Lord,be my helper n understanding and taking to heart these things.And then lead me to be a “gatherer” of these things for how You would PURPOSE them for me,and for how I live n the minutes and hours of my days.