Welcome Jesus into your life

In the book of Matthew chapter 8, we read the account of Jesus casting demons out a legion of demons from a man who was tormented.

This man had been bound with chains, and he would break the chains and cut himself. No one could restrain him.

During the deliverance, Jesus was begged by the demons to “cast us into the herd of pigs.”

At first glance at this passage it sounds like an odd request. After all, a demon’s desire is a body. Why then did Legion beg to be cast into the pigs?

Those pigs were not supposed to be in that land in the first place. The Jewish people were not supposed to have anything to do with the animals that were unclean.

The demonic indwelling left the man at the command of Jesus and instantly possessed the pigs. The pigs ran down an embankment and drown in the sea.

The herdsmen ran to the city and told the people what happened. The crowds came out to see Jesus. They saw the once demonized man now in his right mind as well.

What happened next is what I want to spend a little time on in this article.

Instead of thanking God for the man’s deliverance, they asked Jesus to leave their region. Did you get that? They asked Jesus to leave them alone.

What the people were doing was sinful according to the law. The people of the land were more happy in their sin than to be delivered and have their sins taken away.

Friends, I will say many still do the same thing today. The Scripture teaches that sin is pleasant for a season. But, sin leads to separation from God and judgment by him.

Today, many are led by the philosophy, if it feels good, do it. That philosophy leads to selfishness and arrogance. It enables us to thumb our nose at the truth of the Scripture.

There are those who want to have the blessings of God and expect him to overlook the fact that we are sinning willingly and without any repentance in our heart.

Let’s put this into a modern-day vernacular. You are standing in your front yard enjoying some delicious bacon wrapped filets on the grill. Then, a person you don’t know comes to the grill takes your spatula and flips your steaks onto a plate and then walks away.

When you ask who are you and what are you doing, the person ignores you. What would your reaction be? You want your steak back and how dare they try to take your stuff. You don’t even know them.

This very thing is what we do when we continually sin and expect God to overlook it.

God has given us and is giving us the opportunity to know him. Jesus made a way for us to be saved and delivered.

When we accept him as the savior of our life, we are welcoming him to work in our lives and change us. We give him permission to point out the things that need to change, and he graciously gives us the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

When we deny him, we are saying Jesus I want you out of the region. I am happier in my sin than walking in forgiveness and grace.

I encourage you my friends give your life, the good, the bad, and the indifferent to him and let him change you. You may feel like you have gone too far and have disqualified yourself from his love. That is not true. It is his will that ALL should be saved. You are part of the ALL.

Even now as you read this article, the spirit of God is dealing with you. Call out to him and ask him to make his presence known to you. Ask him to forgive you of your sins and be the Lord of your life.

Find a faith community to help you with your journey. We’d love to have you at Washington First Assembly but just look in the listings in this newspaper, and you will find communities of faith that can help you on your journey.

Spend some time in prayer and reflection. God wants to have a conversation with you. Let Jesus into your territory and watch him expand your borders.