30 Days of Truth
Day 15 – comfortable being uncomfortable
Matthew 8:32-34 KJV
[32] And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. [33] And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. [34] And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
When Jesus encounters two demon-possessed people, the demons ask to be be cast out into a herd of pigs.
When the demons enter into the pigs, the pigs run into the sea and drown.
When the keepers of the pigs tell those in the city what has happened, the whole city comes out to meet Jesus.
They don’t thank Him for healing the two demon-possessed people.
They don’t ask Him to heal their sick.
They aren’t grateful that the demon-possessed people are no longer scaring folks and blocking free travel.
They wanted Jesus to leave!
They wanted Him gone!
It’s important to note that the people of this region were Gentiles, not Jews, and they were well-rooted in their pagan beliefs.
For all we know, these demon-possessed men served a twisted purpose in the community.
The people of this region had become comfortable with their demons.
They were comfortable in their sins.
People can become comfortable with being uncomfortable.
We learn from another Gospel account of this story that the pigs numbered about two thousand.
These pigs were their food and their livelihood, and Jesus had indirectly caused them to drown themselves in the sea.
Their meat was spoiled, their hides were ruined, and their value was now worthless!
Thanks Jesus. (Sarcasm)
Like these people, Christians today also sometimes reject miracles.
They have a need, and they claim to want the miraculous, and they may even beg God for a miracle.
When the miracle comes, they don’t want any part of it.
They make excuses and reject the hand that heals.
They have become comfortable with sin or sickness.
Their sins or sickness has intruded upon the very thoughts of their heart and to them, it represents part of their identity. To them, it is part of who they are, and as much as they hate their sins/sickness, they can no more be rid of it than they could rid themselves of a body part.
Yet despite how entrenched this false belief is in who they are, it is truly FALSE BELIEF.
False belief can be overcome with truth, but a person must be willing to let go of their belief in WHO THEY ARE, WHO THEY ARE NOT, and BELIEVE in WHO CHRIST IS. Simply believing in who THEY are is not going to help their faith, because that points their focus back to themselves, their own sins, sicknesses or shortcomings.
We must have a firm faith and belief in who CHRIST IS and believe that who we are is the same as Him.
We are ONE with Him, plus nothing else.
Old things are passed away!
All things have become NEW!