Do we really want our pigs back?

The men who had been taking care of the pigs ran away and spread the news in the town and among the farms. People went out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they saw the man who used to have the mob of demons in him. He was sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the man with the demons, and about the pigs.
So they asked Jesus to leave their territory.   (verses 14-17)

Read Mark 5:1-20

Asking Jesus to help you, to live in you and to be the guiding force in your life can have amazing consequences. You may never be the same again.
Some people are afraid of this. They don’t want to be so different. They don’t want to lose what they’ve got or have their lives changed so drastically. They don’t want their friends to think less of them. If they have invited Jesus in, they may ask him to leave again. The things he’s done are amazing, but they are just too radical for them to cope with.

The people in this story saw a man freed from the power of demons, and they saw a mob of pigs get drowned. They were afraid, and they asked Jesus to leave.

The man freed of demons was now free to live a normal life among his friends, accepted as an equal and not a freak. This is what Jesus does for us too. We are set free to relate to others, to live among them, and to tell them of the great things that Jesus has done for us and can do for them too.
But we shouldn’t be too surprised if they tell us they’d rather have their pigs back!

Lord, I want you in my life your way. Amen.

by Bob Turnbull, in ‘New Strength for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 1998)

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