Depart from us
Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. – Luke 8:37
This story begins with Jesus’ encounter with a man in a terrible condition whose only solution was a miracle. As expected, Jesus meets the need, healing the man and giving him the opportunity to live a normal life.
However, the people who saw the result of the miracle, instead of giving glory to God, asked Jesus to leave them. During the process of delivering this man demons took possession of pigs, causing them to run off a cliff (v32-33). This event resulted in the loss of revenue for the owner of the pigs and the loss of work for those who guarded the herd.
It is possible that as believers we hasten to judge the Gerasenes, but how would we react in similar situations?
- When using our money, do we consider using it for the glory of God or do we ignore him because we have a better use for our money?
- When making decisions, do we seek the will of God in prayer or do we act based on our own ‘wisdom’?
- When deciding how to use our time, do we give God the time He deserves or do we seek Him only in our spare time?
- When exercising our right to vote, do we reject the values that the word of God teaches us?
As we see, there are many ways in which we can tell God to depart from us.
God wants to make his presence permanent in our lives. This means blessings, but it also requires us to be willing to allow God to remove from our lives those things He deems necessary. When the time comes to make a decision, will you do as the Gerasenes or will you ask God to stay with you?
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