2/26/2020 – Parable of the Divided Kingdom

Passage: Matthew 12:24-30 / Luke 11:14-23

Written By: Karli Boatright – Undergrad

I am a multitasker. I go a hundred miles an hour and do a hundred things all together at the same time. It’s how I’m wired; it’s how I work. And it’s plain exhausting. I’m divided into too many pieces that are all clamoring for my undivided attention, and all speeding in completely different directions. Constantly pulling and pulling, until I crumble and break. And then and only then do I stop and really think I need to slow down with my one million and one activities. And I’m willing to bet that a lot of you are like this. You spread yourself too thin, put your foot in too many doors, and divide yourself up into too many pieces. And while this has become your normal, it doesn’t mean it’s safe to stay that way.

In Luke 11:17 Jesus is speaking about the parable of the divided house, saying “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction. And a house divided against itself will fall.” Now, in this story Jesus is referring to the division between himself and the pharisees. But what I’ve drawn from these warnings of division is a sign to unify my life. If my house remains split and my life divided amongst a hundred different things it will crumble again and again no matter how hard I try to keep it all together.

And the only way to keep my life and house from crumbling is to unify my life. I must unify my goals, my actions, my words, my one million and one activities, my everything. It all must come together under one roof: The loving and protective roof of Jesus Christ. Try as we may, we cannot protect and nourish every single aspect of our lives. It is simply too much. The rains and storms of this life will easily overpower us. But if our lives are united under Jesus “The rain will fall, the rivers will rise, and the winds will blow and pound the house. Yet, it will not collapse.” Matthew 7:25.

And you may be thinking, ya, ya, ya that sounds great for you, but how am I supposed to unify my life when every part of it is speeding a hundred miles an hour down a hundred different tracks? As much as I’d love to tell you to just shake off all of your responsibilities, kick up your feet, take it easy, and your life will automatically shift into alignment; that’s just not true, or practical. To unify our lives, we must carve out intentional time with God. Now I know adding another thing on your mile long to-do list probably isn’t what you wanted to hear, but this simple addition will radically change your life. When we take a few minutes out of our day to pray, read, or praise, God will become dramatically bigger and your one million and one activities will become dramatically smaller. Your life will unify. And your house will once again be under a steady roof.

So today I invite you to make your life a little easier. I invite you to stop trying so desperately to keep the walls up around you. I invite you to carve out intentional time with God, and unify your life under his beautiful, almighty roof.