This morning I was reading in Mark 5:1-20 about Jesus delivering the Gerasene Demoniac of his many demons. The man lived in a cave by a cemetery and not even the villager's chains could hold him. He must have caused many problems for that area in what he was able to do with the evil demons within him. Yet, in spite of this man being made whole and delivered by our Lord, the town asked Jesus to leave the area.
Earlier, Jesus was asked by the demons that if they had to leave this man, could they go into the herd of pigs, about 2000 of them. This was a large herd by even today's industrial farm standards. The financial loss must have been devastating for the owner, or (owners), and since the herd brought prosperity to the community either through the wealth of one man or that of many, the people chose to go the route of preserving their remaining financial gains by having Jesus leave, that is, with the idea of not losing further wealth by having him stay.
It then becomes obvious to see that the eyes of those in the community were not on one man being saved and released from a demonic prison, but on preserving their own wealth. This made me think, "Do I at times make decisions based on financial advantage before asking God if that is the course of action that he would want me to go?" Do I say to myself, "I am only doing this to preserve wealth for the benefit of my family! If an emergency or such comes up, we will need this money!"
I realize when being honest with myself that God does take care of us and he will continue to do so, but I know that my wealth is not my own, but God's, and he has given it to me for "his" purposes. It is so easy to get caught up in the prestige
I realize when being honest with myself that God does take care of us and he will continue to do so, but I know that my wealth is not my own, but God's, and he has given it to me for "his" purposes. It is so easy to get caught up in the prestige
