"Some will run from the light only to perish in the darkness."

Day 69

Matthew 8:30-34 Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged Him, saying, "If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine." And He said to them, "Go." So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water. Then those who kept them fled; and they went away to the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.

On my only trip to Israel, the first morning at breakfast there were many in our party searching the buffet for the bacon or ham, and imagine their surprise and frustration when there was none to be found! They had forgotten that the Jews still do not eat unclean animals, and not only that, they won't touch them, butcher them, or serve them. I'm reminded of that this morning as I read this often-commented upon passage, and, again, I marvel at the message of Jesus. Let's face it; none of us really know why the demons wanted to go into the pigs no more than we know why the pigs then jumped into the sea. But one thing we do know is that these people rejected Jesus! He came to their land, established His dominion, released the people from demonic torment, and yet they asked Him to leave. You see, not everyone wants to hear the truth, be convicted, and accept Jesus; some folks just want to stay in their slop, much like the pigs. They would rather lay around in their sin, be comfortable, unchallenged, satisfied in the flesh, until the day they die, with no regard or concern for their eternity. And, should you come and share the truth, you may find yourself like Jesus was, asked to leave.

One of the hardest truths that I have had to accept as an evangelist is that not everyone wants to know the truth, and many who do will not accept it. I had a young man who worked for me for over 10 years as a supervisor, and seemingly, every day I was able to show him how God was blessing our business, quite often in miraculous ways. Yet, no matter how hard I tried, he would not accept the truth. Oh, he would acknowledge it and be shocked by it, but he never accepted it. Try as we might, sometimes we are simply "casting our pearls before swine," and that is a waste of time. You see, Jesus didn't argue with these people, He didn't try to make His point. They had seen His power, promptly rejected it, and said ‘no thanks;’ so He left. We, too, need to learn and follow this pattern of sharing the faith–we pray, we share, we lead them to the truth, and then they must decide. Remember, we don't save people, we just show them the truth.

Daily Prayer: Father, help us to persevere in sharing the truth, and help us Lord not to carry the burden of those who will never accept it for themselves. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

"Some will run from the light only to perish in the darkness."

Pastor Gene Burroughs