Do You Ask Him to Go?

Do You Ask Him to Go?

by David Brenneman 

"When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.  And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.  And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.  The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”   When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.  And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”  Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them.  The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.”  And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters.  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 8:23-34.

In-between living in our former hometown and now...I drove through one of the most dangerous storms that I have ever driven through.  Hours of near zero visibility on a highway sticking to a semi truck whom God kept in front of me.  The weather can indeed frighten us.

Then there's the stuff we call the big things in life.  Career altering, physically altering events that changes everything.  

Do these things draw you closer to God or do they push you in another direction?  

For all they'd already seen...when the storms came while they were all in the boat...the Disciples were afraid.  Jesus was with them and they still went to panicsville.

They arrived and the resident demons had to come and acknowledge Jesus...note the irony...and in doing so and what follows...people ask Him to leave. 

Life took a twist and they asked the Son of God to leave.  The menaces to their lives were gone and all they could think of was their livelihood went and drowned.  God had showed up and they were more concerned about self than what He wanted to do with them next. 

The paths our lives take aren't likely to make a whole heap of sense.  Many, every year, go to theme parks and ride on rides that are designed to push our senses to the limits.  To see who can make it without caving into fear.  Immense trust is placed in those who operate those machines.  Tremendous faith is placed on the table between operator and participant.  Why is there more faith present there than between mankind and God?

Why is there more faith between people and the losingest of teams and victory?  

Why do people immerse themselves in useless statistics on things such as movies, books and sports yet push away...literally tell Jesus it's not as important...the Word of God?

Do you ask Jesus to go away?

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21.

Beyond what you can ask for or think.  

Do you trust in the Lord with all your heart, and not lean on your own understanding?  Do you acknowledge Him so that He can make your paths straight?

Are you more worried about or interested in the world's views of you?  Are you more worried about what it is you might lose?  Are you worried about the changes that your limited imagination is coming up with?

If indeed our lives are not our own and that we were bought with a price, the shed blood of Jesus Christ, then why do we let these fears dictate our directions or our interests in the things of God?

I'm going on nearly a decade of leaving television behind.  I really don't miss it.  I do watch snippets of old shows, but there's no commercials.  I like instructionals.  Learning something that I may or may not use.  But I will not remove or alter my time with Jesus each morning or evening.  In fact my aim, not a lame thing such as a resolution, is adding more time with Jesus in my evenings.  Am reading through my Bible...two of them.  Two versions from study Bibles.

I want more of Jesus in my life.  Everything else is guaranteed to waste away.  Jesus said to store up treasures in Heaven.  Hide His Word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him.  Rest at His feet.  Go where He leads.  By all means never sending Him away. 

How do you view your time?  Are you intentional in spending time with Jesus or are you thinking of Him as someone other than your Savior?  Think about that one.  Saying He's your Savior and Lord and living it aren't the same things.

Jesus said many will say to Him of all the things they did in His Name...and He will say to depart from Me for I never knew you. 

How do you think about Jesus?  Who is He to you?  

Is there anything or anyone more important than Him to you?

Those joyful hours spent everywhere else...do you spend any joyful times with Jesus?  Those hours you say you deserve to spend watching a game...how much time have you given to Jesus?  Those hours spent watching television or streaming Netflix...same thing.   Those fictional books.  

Do you inadvertently push Jesus away from your life?  Get 2025 off to the right start and push those thoughts and things out of your life and mind.  Establish a dedicated time to be with Jesus and add time to it as you go.

You only have one life to live.  

Get it right. 

All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.