The gods of the
nations must be carried about on animals and the burden of the gods, the idols,
is too great to be borne by the beasts of burden. On the other hand, the people of God are not
asked to bear the burden of Yahweh, He bears them and He never tires, never
wearies, He will carry them their entire lives, from the womb to grey
hairs. Why should a god be a burden to
people? The God of Israel promises
salvation. None of the other gods can
possibly be termed gods if they were created by men out of other created
things. We may not make idols and call
them gods but it would be a good thing if we took the time to see what it is in
our lives that lays burdens on us and demands they be served by us. The answer is to let those things go, put
them back in their rightful place. Is it
your house that requires you to work yourself to death, leaving no room for
serving the Lord? Is it something else
that demands most of your time and attention?
Like the Israelites, He is calling you to return to the one who has
carried and will carry you and has saved you through eternity.
Jesus appears to have gone across the sea this night for one
purpose, to deliver and save this demon-possessed man. Jews didn't go over to the Decapolis, it was
a pagan country. They also didn't go among
the tombs of pagan peoples, but Jesus did.
He went because He had compassion on the man. He healed him and then He got back in the boat
and returned but not before commissioning the man as a missionary to his own
people. He sent him to tell all that
Jesus had done. He delivered the man
that had tormented them, they all knew who he was, and they marveled at the
power that had set him free, they knew the power required to accomplish this
miracle. If Jesus can set this man free,
what can He do to set you free today?
Paul doesn't tell the Ephesians that they are to move out against
the schemes of the devil and to fight against "the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." He tells them they are to stand against these
things. He knows that the devil is
coming against us, just as Peter warned, " Your adversary the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." He will come looking for us, we don't have to
go looking for him. We need only be
prepared and Paul tells us how, put on the armor of God and stand. Let us commit to the spiritual disciplines of
putting on that armor so that we are prepared for the battle that will
undoubtedly come.
No comments:
Post a Comment