ON YOUR MARK: WEEK 5 DAY 3

Mark 5: 14-17

14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

There are a couple of important things to look for when you start taking medication. The first is the desired outcome, meaning you respond to the medication and it does the job it was prescribed to do. The second is you have a reaction to the medication, typically a negative effect that the medicine has on your system.  Over the next couple of days, we are going to look at two specific reactions to Jesus’ casting of the demons out of the man from Gerasenes: the reaction of the townspeople and the reaction of the man himself.

When I read how the townspeople reacted, in which they were in fear and imploring Jesus to leave, I wonder how many times I react to the “cost” of Jesus’ work in my life instead of responding with thanksgiving. Are my “lost pigs” more important than Jesus continuing to work in my life? Am I reacting from fear or freedom?  How about you? Are you responding to Christ or reacting?