The Way of the Backslider

# 375- Today's Living Word comes from Mr 5:16,17 “And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.“

There was a time when Peter asked Jesus to depart from him. Remember?

Lu 5:8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken;

Peter had been fishing all night and had caught nothing. Jesus told him where to fish and he hit the mother lode. Big financial gain for Peter, but here, the owners of the swine suffered a huge financial loss. Both saw the effects of the supernatural powers of Jesus. Both asked Jesus to leave.

But there was a huge difference in the motivation for asking Him to leave. Peter asked Jesus to leave because he realized what a sinner he was. He realized that he was not worthy of God's goodness and mercy. “Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The owners of the swine were only motivated by their earthly kingdom, their bottom line. “Leave Jesus! You are encroaching on our livelihood! We liked it the way it was before You arrived on the scene.”

This is the cry of the backslider. They have witnessed the power, the goodness, the deliverance of Jesus, but they choose to go back to the way things were. Peter chose to run his prideful flesh out of town on a rail, these people chose to ride Jesus out of town on a rail. What will you choose to do?

I'm Duane Matz and that's Today's Living Word