Divided or One

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

DIVIDED OR ONE

Luke 11:14-20

14 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. 15 But some of them said, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons." 16 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. 17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. 18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. 19 Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

NIV

There are three kingdoms Jesus is talking about here. First, the kingdom of Satan is certainly not divided. The dark forces of that kingdom are united against all that God is. Satan’s kingdom is dead set on destroying every person and keeping them from the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Second, Jesus mentions the kingdom of God and how everything good comes from the finger of God. Of course, the kingdom of God is completely one, and could never be divided. Some would like to divide Jesus from God, saying Jesus was simply a good man, a prophet, but not the Son of God, or that God is three in one, that they are divided into three separate persons. Although it seems they could be seen as three, and are three, the Father, Son, and Spirit, they are also one, God. Third, Jesus mentioned the kingdom of the house: a house is divided against itself and will fall. This house is us, the kingdom of self. When we think of a house, it is a place we live or dwell in, and as a believer, the Spirit dwells in us, so we are the house or the temple of God. But we are also this house of this kingdom of self. We can decide and if we do not become a citizen of the kingdom of God and remain living in the darkness of the kingdom of self, then we would never have a divided heart, because we love living in our own kingdom. However, because we are believers and are citizens of the kingdom of God, we left our own kingdom of self behind or abdicated our rule over the kingdom of self. Yet, here is where we can get a bit unsettled and possibly get into that situation of being divided against ourselves or having a divided heart, which will cause us to fall. We want to do that which God desires us to do, but we also want to do what we want to do. Then there are those areas of our life that God does not want us to do, and yet we still do them. How is that not being divided? Do we simply make the excuse, “Well we are human” and we fail all the time. Although, that is true and we do fail, what we need to always be cognizant of is that we are the house of God and as such we have decided with our whole hearts to follow Jesus, listen to the Spirit within, and make every effort to live according to the will of God. That decision is not divided, and we will not fall, for we belong to God, and not just his finger, but we are being held in the whole hand of God. Our heart is full of God, and do love him with all of heart, mind, soul, and strength, and we are united with Christ, for as he and the Father are one, so we are one with Christ, and we will take our stand, standing our ground, standing firm.