Today's Devotion
From Mike MacIntosh
And always, night and day, a man was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.... Jesus said to the man, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!"
Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them." And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.
Mark 5:5-6,8,11-13
On a particular Saturday night in April 1999, a Christian goth band was giving a concert, hosted by a local Colorado youth group. As the band finished playing, the youth pastor got up and said, "You know, I've never done this before. I've never even thought this before, but I've had it strongly on my heart all during the concert tonight that there is somebody here who has either murdered somebody, or is getting ready to murder someone, and I want to impress upon you that God is saying, 'Don't do it.' Or if you have, He will forgive you, if you'll repent tonight of your sins." Eric Harris, a high school senior, sat in the audience that Saturday night. He heard every word the youth pastor said. But three days later, on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, Eric and a friend would kill twelve of their fellow Columbine High School students, as well as one teacher, and finally themselves.
A pastor friend of mine shared that story with me back in 1999, shortly after it happened, and it struck me: Right up to the last minute, God was reaching out to this teenager. He knew this kid's heart, and gave him one last chance. It's a testament to the magnitude of God's love, and the vastness of His reach, that no matter how lost, hurting, stubborn, prideful, angry, or depressed a person may be, God will reach out to them. No one is beyond God's reach.
In Mark 5, we see a man whom society had long-ago rejected and dismissed. Possessed by demons, he lived alone in the mountains and in tombs, dejected, "crying out and cutting himself with stones" (verse 5). He had gone mad; no one could bind him with chains, much less help him. Jesus, though, had the power not just to help him, but to heal him. Casting the demons into a nearby herd of about two thousand swine, Jesus clothed this man and restored him to a right mind. The change was so dramatic that when people familiar with the man saw him, "they were afraid" (verse 15).
Maybe you feel like you are out of God's reach -- like you are too depressed, too bitter, too sinful, too stubborn for God to change you. Or maybe you have family or friends who feel that way. IfJesus could restore this demon-possessed, dejected man, He can restore you, and He can restore the people you love.
There is one key difference, though, between Eric Harris and the man in Mark 5. When this unhinged, demon-possessed man saw Jesus, "he ran and worshiped Him" (verse 6). Sure, he was out of his mind, but he wanted to change, and in Jesus, he saw the opportunity. Eric Harris had the same opportunity to change, but rejected it. You see, God will not stop reaching out to you, but He will not intrude. He has so much love and forgiveness to offer you, but you must accept it.
Let me encourage you today to run into the loving arms of Jesus and worship Him. He can -- and will -- heal you, if you let Him! No matter how far from Him you've drifted, or how low you feel, He will "wipe away every tear" from your eyes (Revelation 21:4), and He will heal you. If you've been praying for friends and family to know the love of Jesus, keep praying for them, and keep loving them. You can't change someone, but you can love them with the love of Jesus Christ. God is faithful. No one is beyond His reach.
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