An excerpt (slightly modified) from a Greg Laurie devotion (March 6, 2009)...
Away with Jesus?
...After Jesus cast the demons out of a man who lived among the tombs, the demons went into a herd of pigs and ran over a cliff. When the people of the region saw that, instead of rejoicing that their neighbor was saved, "they began to plead with Him to depart from their region" (Mark 5:17).
That really sums up the reaction of all humankind to Jesus Christ. You are either saying, "Jesus, I want to be close to you," or you are saying, "Jesus, go away. I don't want you in my life."
You might protest, "Now wait a second. I admit that I haven't yet made a commitment to Christ. I'm simply saying I haven't decided yet."
But if you don't say yes to Jesus, you are essentially telling Him to go away. Jesus said, "He who is not with Me is against Me" (Luke 11:23)...
...Have you said, "Away with Him?" You say, "What do you mean, away with Him. I have never said, 'Go away Jesus.' "
Maybe you have, indirectly. Maybe you resisted God's work in your heart. Maybe you don't want to give up some things in your life that you know are wrong. Or maybe you are just too busy--you have time for everything but Jesus...
...He offers you His forgiveness. Take it. The choice is yours.
Hey Kara,
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the newlywed blog. We have a really great class. I thought I'd tell you the books we use to teach the class in case you wanted to follow along a little closer. Right now we are using Marriage on the Rock by Jimmy Evans and Covenant Marriage by Gary Chapman. Awesome books! In a couple of Sundays we are having a man from church to teach us some of the Financial Peace stuff that Dave Ramsey does, but we aren't using a book for it. I hope you learn lots and lots! We have learned so much from teaching this class!