Begging Him to Leave

I've started reading the New Testament again. I read a bit every day and (as of yesterday), I decided to write a verse down that particularly stood out to me, and then write a reflection about it. I hope you don't mind that I'm sharing today's with you. You don't mind? Oh, good.

"...the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district." Matthew 8:34

Life with Jesus is hard. Hard because your life ceases to be your own. No longer can the things of this world be the end-all-be-all. Jesus demands that we leave everything behind when we follow him. Even family attachments have to come second when we answer his call. This puts us at odds with this world and beyond its comprehension. It's almost as if the world is saying, "We like you, Jesus, we really do. But would you tone down things a bit?"

In Matthew 8, Jesus has just driven out two demons--and at the same time made it safe again for people to travel in that area. He should be praised as a hero, like Theseus or Hercules were when they vanquished monsters. But he allowed the demons to possess a herd of swine--which caused them to plunge into the sea, where they drowned. So, driving out demons? Good. A bunch of drowned pigs? Bad.

Thanks, but no thanks, Jesus.

When Jesus starts messing with our livelihood...our stuff, we don't like it. "Just leave us alone!", we cry. Leave us with our problems, our weakness, our sin. We can live with that. But challenge our beliefs, our worldview, or way of life? Never. In fact, our response to Jesus is the same as Jesus' response to the demons: "Leave, get out!"

Jesus asks nothing short of everything. Our entire beings. And in this world, those who follow him will appear very foolish. But when we give him our everything, he transforms us. He gives us everything we need in this life. And everything we desire in the next.

Go ahead. Call me foolish. But I'm sticking with him.

What is holding you back from giving everything to Christ?

Riding the Bus

You meet the most interesting people while waiting for the bus. That is, if you look up long enough from your phone or book. He was wearing a construction orange and yellow vest and baggy pants.

"Did you see the concert last night?" he asked, without filling in the usual context of whose concert and where. Turns out it was a benefit concert for the most recent devastating natural disaster.

"Even the vampire girl was there...Kristin Scott Thomas."
"Kristin Stewart?" I prompted.
"Oh yeah. I can never remember her name. She flew out all the way from LA to New York so she could introduce Bon Jovi."
"It was for a good cause." I suggested.
"Yeah, I had no idea how bad they were affected."

When we spoke he looked directly into my eyes and stood still. When we weren't speaking, he was constantly moving, shifting his weight from one foot to another, like a raptor anticipating his next meal or like an ice skater. Every now and then he would shuffle his feet like he was dancing to a tune stuck in his head. I half-expected him to burst out into a Gene Kelly inspired rendition of "Gotta Dance."

A few moments passed as he looked at the bus route. "You could go just about anywhere from here."

I smiled and agreed.