I’ve learned that there’s no neutrality when it comes to the things of God. As nice as it would be for some people to just claim they’re not for Him or against Him, that gray area simply doesn’t exist.
When Jesus is teaching on the Kingdom in Matthew chapter 12, He says,
“Anyone who isn’t with Me opposes Me, and anyone who isn’t working with Me is actually working against Me.” Matthew 12:30 NLT
I’d like to highlight the thought of demolishing the mirage of neutrality. It isn’t real. There is no standstill. You're either moving towards Him or away from Him. Either advancing the Kingdom of God or falling victim to the kingdom of darkness. Stagnant is actually moving backwards.
Think of it this way; many people at the beginning of the year have made fresh commitments to get physically in shape. Burn some fat, build some muscle, making better choices concerning eating habits etc. Just because someone has a cheat day, doesn't do cardio, or skips leg day doesn’t mean they’re officially off the rails and have failed on their overall goal — HOWEVER! The reality is, you’ve officially established a new trend in the wrong direction. You cannot label those types of days as “neutral”. They weren’t. They were intentional maneuvers in a non-beneficial direction.
If we can begin to see our relationship with God that way, we’ll learn that those stagnant days or “cheat days” are much the same. Intentionally poor decisions without benefit whether we realize it or not.
So, now that the problem is exposed what can we do about it? Live intentional every single day. The reason why we brand this January fast as Intentional 21 is because our hearts cry is to jumpstart a lifestyle of living intentionally with the Lord as a consistent lifestyle. My prayer is that you’ll discover that if you can live intentionally for 3 hours, you can do it for 3 days. If you can do it for 3 days, you can do it for 3 weeks, If you can do it for 3 weeks, you can do it for 3 months and so on.
I imagine most people won’t wake up, read this devotional and determine to go smoke crack! That may be extreme. (If you do struggle in that area, email me because we should talk.) But many people will wake up and read a devotional like this and be tempted to put their gear in neutral and expect to coast their faith through their day. I believe the Holy Spirit is exposing the false notion that if you’re in neutral you’re not losing ground and He’s revealing the tactics of the enemy to slowly keep us sinking in neutrality. There is a current moving beneath the boat of our lives pushing us somewhere and just because we’re not paddling or living with lifted sails doesn’t mean we’re staying put. The currents of life flowing in the streams of Kingdom opposition never take a day off — therefore we can’t either.
Doing nothing will take you somewhere you don’t want to be … in life, as a person, and most importantly as a believer.
In the parable of the 10 talents laid out in Matthew 25 we read about a master who travels away and leaves 3 variations of money to 3 different servants. 1 servant gets 5 talents of money, the other 2, and the last 1. At the end of the story the servant who had only one talent did absolutely nothing with it. He buried it in the ground and then gave it back to his master when he returned. He’s later identified as a “wicked and lazy servant” by the master who entrusted the 1 talent into his care. In the context of this devotion I’m simply speaking to the thought that if we do nothing, if we think being in neutral is acceptable, we must quickly learn that it’s not true. We’re sliding downhill towards destruction if we’re not actively engaging with God with great intentionality every single day.
Engagement: Identify and remove at least two obstacles that you know are getting in the way of your intentionality with God. If you know that watching TV gets in the way of you and the Lord, consider taking the batteries out of the remote control or unplugging the TV from the wall. You’ll be far less likely to go the extra mile of plugging it back in or putting the batteries in the remote if it’s one step beyond easily accessible. If it’s your phone, consider deleting the app’s that draw the most time for a season. Whatever your obstacle is, determine to get it out of the way so you can be more intentional during this 21 day fast with the Lord. Certainly don’t live running away from God. Recognize if you’re complacently idling in neutral and see it for what it is, then make a change. Above all, live intentionally engaging with God during this fast and hopefully as a new lifestyle choice you never abandon. You got this!
Pastor Josiah Elias
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