The eyewitnesses described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs. Then they began to beg Him to leave their region. As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging Him to be with Him. But He would not let him; instead, He told him, “Go back home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you.” So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed. (Mark 5:16-20 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)
For most people in the world the idea of demon-possession is absurd — it’s a narrow-minded, fanatical, outdated way of dealing with conditions that are complicated, but clearly explained and treated with medicine and psychology. But in truth the idea of demon-possession is an exciting, cutting-edge manner of dealing with certain problems — an approach that quickly gets to the root of the problem and completely eliminates it. The widespread thought that demon-possession is absurd is a message that Satan and his demons promote because they are terrified of what would happen if more people knew the truth and used their authority to enforce it. If Jesus used this method to free this man that no one in the region of the Gerasenes could help — over a period of many years — why would this method not work today? Either this story is a big lie, or demon-possession is a reality that we need to pay attention to.
This recently healed madman begged… begged to go with Jesus, when the supposedly sane people of the city begged Jesus to leave. Though this man had lost years of his life to insanity, he was now smarter, more in control of his senses, more sane, more spiritual than the whole town. But in a surprising response of Jesus, he was told that he couldn’t get in the boat with Him, but should go back to his people and tell them what God had done for him. Within one day, this man went from being possessed by a legion of demons to being so free that he was sent by Jesus to help others. His healing must have been very impressive because all the people of Decapolis were amazed.
Isn’t this what our lives should be? We should not be content to have normal, mediocre lives. Whether we start out as bad as this man or not, we need to fight to see such a change in our lives and family that those who know us will be amazed. This is how God can go from being a god that no one can see, to a god that everyone can see. God is invisible, but He becomes visible in our lives when we allow God to do something genuinely great.
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