Tuesday 12 Jan 2021

January 12: Matthew 12:30-32
 
Key Verse: Matthew 12:32
Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
 
Devotion:
This is one of those verses in the bible which worries a lot of people because it seems to say that we could be in mortal danger if we say anything against the Holy Spirit... but we do have to take it in context and study the whole bible and not take a single verse as meaning everything! There are so many places in our bibles which tell us how forgiving and merciful God is and many more places where God has forgiven people for sins which would have demanded death of old!
 
God is willing and able to forgive anyone who has done anything wrong, even those who have spoken against the Holy Spirit! If we take this to its furthest extent, then many of us have cursed in the name of the Holy Spirit or Jesus... do we deserve eternal death? Well, everyone deserves eternal death according to the rules... but God forgives us and allows us to come to Him through Christ.
 
It is the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus which has allowed us to come to God no matter what we have done in our lives. We have to be careful in this though because the rules were laid down by God for a reason! If we say one thing (say we love God) but do something else (continue sinning as if it was normal) then are we showing God our true colours?
 
God wants us to be truthful and honest with Him and then He will uphold His promises to us. If we continue to berate the Holy Spirit and continue to work against the Spirit in our lives, then we are living a lie; something God will see right through! God will judge us according to the truth in our lives and not just what we say!
 
Points to Ponder:
What do you say about God in your life?
 
What do you do with God in your life?