Rejecting Jesus and Staying Bound
“The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.” Matthew 8:33-34
One would think the region’s citizens should be grateful for this miracle, but the whole region only saw a loss of income from the death of their pigs. Seeking material prosperity at the expense of true life, these men implore Jesus to leave. They were gentiles clearly, but they still saw a demonstration of the love and power of Jesus and yet rejected Him. Jesus doesn’t look at where one comes from or who we are personally, He offers life to all humanity! Jesus is freedom from our bondage, forgiveness from our sins, and a future of eternal hope – We would ask, “Why would anyone turn him down?” To really know Jesus is to love all He is and all He does!
For many people this rejection is because, Jesus is going to disrupt and disorder one’s life, which is already messed up without Him. Jesus always brings change. He may even change one’s course of direction. But for some, that is painful to them. It takes humility to let someone else be Lord of your life.
Change can often be scarier than the pain of bondage and the pride of staying in control of one’s life. So rather than the men celebrating what Jesus did and ask Him to do more, they beg Him to leave their region! Sadly, they got what they asked for. Jesus continues to others who were crying out for Gods touch across the lake.
The Lord never rejects those who are open and ready for Him to come to them. Where there is a cry of the heart He will come. He will never force His love or hand over one’s life. When Jesus comes to you, will you open your ear to hear His voice to receive and obey Him fully, at whatever cost it is to you? In Matthew 16:24; Jesus says to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow him. Taking up your cross is simply a surrender of one’s will to obey Jesus when your flesh wants to resist Him. The cost of following Jesus of inner peace, blessing and eternal life is far worth any price one may have in the natural life here on earth.