No Negotiating
A Devotion
The Goodsoil Discipleship Ministry
By Bro. Andy Madonio
May 27, 2000
And someone in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But He said to him, "Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?"
Luke 12:13-14
Jesus was teaching about how much God the Father loves and cares for us ("The very hairs on your head are all numbered," and "You are more valuable than many sparrows.") He then warned of the dire fate of denying Him and blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Finally, He gave the assurance that the Holy Spirit would be with them in persecution and would provide for them the perfect Words of God to speak.
And then someone deflates the anointing with an inane question about worldly wealth. In essence, this one said, "Jesus, I want my share of the stuff."
Please understand -- Jesus did not come to divvy up worldly stuff. He came for no other reason than to purchase your eternal soul. When you stand before Him, the One who agonized for you in prayer and death, He will not have one solitary care for all the wealth in the world. He will not negotiate with you on natural terms about natural things, nor will he negotiate about your spiritual condition. The One whose eyes "blaze like fire" will distill with His vision all pretense and guile. Your arguments of arbitration will be no more; only the truth will remain because only truth can withstand the blazing heat of Jesus' vision.
When all has been purified and only the truth remains, then no arbitration is necessary; no negotiations are possible. Where does your heart rest -- in the "stuff" of this world, or in Jesus? "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
