Has God ever done something or convicted you of something in your life that made you afraid? Did you ever wish God would just leave you alone? You’re not the only one.
And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. (Matthew 8:34 ESV)
Jesus had just performed an exorcism where he healed two men who were demon possessed. The result of that exorcism was that a bunch of pigs became possessed and jumped off a cliff nearby. In healing two men who previously suffered through life because of demons, Jesus caused economic harm– the pigs that farmers had been raising drowned after they were possessed by the demons. The people in the village were more upset at their economic loss than the gain of two brothers that are now fully themselves and able to be a part of their community. A miracle from Jesus had affected the way the people lived and they wanted Jesus to leave.
Sometimes we have that same attitude toward Jesus, don’t we? We want Jesus to just leave us alone because what he does affects our lives more than what we’re willing to allow it. So we run and we try to box him out to certain days and certain moments, but that’s now how Jesus works. When Jesus saves us, he is saving all of us. He is changing every single part of our lives, we need to accept that. We shouldn’t be begging Jesus to leave certain parts, like our work lives or our relationships.
Jesus came to change all of us, every single moment and every single though to transform who we are from the inside out. Don’t beg Jesus to leave, but beg Jesus to live in us, to go deeper within the recesses of our souls and fully heal us from our sin and inequities. Yes, He will change our lives, but there is nothing to fear in that change — Jesus is with us.
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