January 16, 2013
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 12:43-45

OBSERVATIONS
Jesus is not giving a scientific explanation of how spirits operate, but using figurative language to make a point – that the spirit of evil (both as a principle and as actual spirit beings) do not simply go away when we tell them too, they come back with a fury and intensity. Trying breaking a bad habit or an addiction. You resolve to stop (to sweep clean your heart and life and put it in good order), but the next few days you’ve falen back into it? The human heart cannot handle a vacuum, it needs to hold onto (and be held by) something.
We were made to hold onto, and be held by, God. With God at the centre of our life, we have all the resources and reasons to live a good and healthy life. With God out of our lives, other things step in – you name it, there are plenty of ‘things’ that take over. Satan and his spirits do what they can to promote this. If we resist them, they will leave… for a time, and they will wait for an opportune time (see Luke 4:13). The attacks will increase, and our unoccupied (ie without God) heart will eventually crash. Some people who break one bad habit without God do so by replacing it with another one. “And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”
In the context of this passage, Jesus is still speaking about the religious leaders, the closed-hearted group that would not accept any sign from Jesus. He is saying that their religious hearts (swept clean and in order) are not centered in God but themselves, and that their condition is worse than they realize.
What do you notice in this passage?

APPLICATION
So what ‘thing’ am I clinging to, that is making my life worse than ever? Is God the centre of my life, do I want God to be the centre? Is my life religious (swept clean and in good order) yet empty of God? Is Satan using my religiosity to enslave me and hurt others?
If I think that this does not apply to me, I need to heed Paul’s advice: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Temptation and testing will come, and with God’s help there is always a way to break free. But we need to be centred in, bling to God. “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13). There is a way out, and we can bear temptation, when we are “occupied” with God.
Being religious (living a clean, ordered life, a ‘self-help’ goodness) is not sufficient. Satan actually delights in this kind of person, he can turn them into critical, judgmental people who actually drive a wedge between others and God. Unless our hearts are occupied by God and Jesus and the Spirit (this is what we were made for, life in this world with God at the centre), our condition will only go from bad to worse.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?

PRAYER
God, forgive me my pride and self-reliance, thinking I can manage life without You at the centre. Occupy my heart, my mind, my life!