Defying HS
One of the strong selling points of our faith is that we firmly believe no matter what we do, we can be forgiven.
Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.- Matthew 12:31-32
In today's reading, though, we encounter a problem with our premise that all can be forgiven by God.
One thing stands out, according to Jesus, as the ultimate mistake, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
What does that mean? I don't go around blaspheming anything, so I guess it doesn't apply to me, right?
I was concerned enough about this to look at what others have said about it and the consensus seems to be that it is all about our relationship with the Spirit that dwells within us.
The Spirit guides, and we decide. Do we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit or tune it out?
But to blaspheme the Spirit, we have to go deeper in our defiance. We have to curse it, to totally reject it.
Now I may not think I do that, but what about all the times I feel there is something I should do but then just blow it off, perhaps even curse at it. No ___ Way!
That can't be what we are talking about, can it?
According to one commentary, our defiance may be subtle, something we do step by step, like building a wall between us and God.
With each brick, we make it harder to hear the voice of the Spirit, until we wall it off completely and shut it out of our lives.
God wants to be part of our lives, even if we don't want Him intruding much at all. He will take what we give and it may not take much to wipe away a lot of bad. All we need to do is be repentant. We need to want to be back with God.
So, if we choose rejection of all that God is, we risk being lost, outside, unreachable, unable to be forgiven.
It makes sense to me that I should do all in my power to keep the lines of communication with God through His Spirit open.
Why shut Him out?
He may just be trying to help me.
More to come...