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Witness And Work Where You Are
38 Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. Luke 8:38-40 NKJV
Thankfulness
Have you ever received such an enormous answer to prayer that you can’t speak?
When you attempt to thank God, your heart is bursting, and your thanks never catch up to the profound gratitude that fills your being.
You thank Him for the healing that has come to you or your child, and you realize that if your thanks continued for all eons of time, you could still never thank God enough.
Perhaps, that was what the man in our passage today was feeling.
If you read the full account in Luke chapter 8, you will see that the demon-possessed man had been tormented for a long time.
His life was barely a life at all.
In fact, he was known for one thing, and that one thing was his demon-possession.
The man was unforgettable. The people in nearby areas knew he was the naked man who lived in the tombs. He was a man tortured by his demons.
Upon seeing the man, Jesus asks his name. He says his name is “Legion” for there are many demons living within him. They beg Jesus not to send them out into the abyss but rather to allow them to enter the herd of swine feeding there on the mountain.
Jesus permits them and the demons leave the man and enter the swine.
The swine then run down a steep place into the lake and drown.
The people watching then run into the city to report what has happened.
There goes their money, they think. The swine owners and their employees are all taking it hard.
Instead of seeing the miracle of the restored man, they see the loss of their money only.
How like these villagers, are we today?
Do we overlook the miracles that God gives us each day and instead look at our bank accounts or wallets?
Can we no longer see the value of the miracles around us?
Hearing the reports, the men of the city come out to see what has happened for themselves.
They find the man, now free from demons and sitting at the feet of Jesus, “clothed and in his right mind.”
But, they are angry at the loss of revenue and ask Jesus to leave.
The restored, healed man asks Jesus if he can go with him.
In fact, he BEGS Jesus to let him go with him.
He might have looked around at his potential neighbors and seen them for what they were.
They cared nothing for the fact that he was now right-minded and demon-free.
Instead, they cared about the loss of money due the dead swine.
Jesus, however, tells the man that he must return to his own home and tell everyone there what great things God has done for him.
We know that he does.
His testimony must have been powerful.
Jesus knew it would be.
In the human, we might think that the man would have been far better off with Jesus.
Instead, he kept the spirit of Jesus with him, and served Him right there where he was.
Those people around the man saw him day by day.
They realized that he never again went back to the tombs or sat naked again.
His mind was clear.
His testimony was moving.
They realized anew all that God had done to heal this man through Jesus.
Perhaps, they regretted their casting Jesus away from them so quickly over the loss of potential revenue from pigs.
Pigs. A profit in pork chops rated higher in their minds than THE SOUL OF A MAN.
Now, they realized their mistake.
Likely, they felt they needed to be again in the presence of Jesus. No doubt, they now wanted to hear Jesus speak.
Perhaps, they knew they too needed healing and forgiveness of their sins. Some might have needed their own demons cast out.
One glorious day for the villagers, Jesus does return.
They had listened to the healed man and knew all Jesus had done, and they wanted Him more than anything.
They realized NOTHING on this earth meant more than what Jesus offers to us…then and now.
When Jesus came this time, they were waiting for him.
They were welcoming Him with all they had in love and gratitude.
What a powerful story.
Without the healed man staying in his homeplace, where he didn’t want to stay, without his testimony and words spoken for Jesus, those people would perhaps not be desiring to have Jesus for themselves.
Will YOU ask Jesus for your forgiveness and healing?
Will YOU go or stay as He directs?
There just might be people around you who need to hear YOUR testimony and YOUR words about Jesus, to help their hearts open to welcome Jesus for themselves.
It is up to YOU to listen and obey the words when Jesus speaks to YOU.