Is He Welcome Here?

Normally, I blog on Tuesdays, but this week, I decided to throw in an extra one. When the Lord begins to hit me with something, my natural reaction is to preach about it and write about it. Last night, after giving a devotion to our Sunday night group at church, I continue to think about the subject matter. Is He welcome here? We say that we want to know Christ and that we want to be consumed by Christ, but the choices we make in our lives reveals the truth. That goes for me, too.

Two situations. Two groups of people. Two different reactions. We read a story of a man set free from the bondage of demons. In the region of the Gerasenes, he lived amongst the tombs, ran around without clothes on, cut himself, and could not be restrained. Jesus set the man free, driving the demons out of the man and into the pigs. The reaction of the people was unique. In Mark 5, we read, "Then they began to beg Him to leave their region." (Mark 5:17 HCSB) Go away. Please leave here. A miracle had happened in their midst as the man who lived amongst the tombs had been set free and given a new life, but their reaction was "Go away." Now the man who had been set free by Jesus wanted to continue on with Jesus, but the rest of the people wanted Him to leave.

A second group heard about Jesus from the woman at the well. As she spoke to Jesus, He revealed His identity to her. At first, she perceived Him as a prophet and admitted that she knew a Messiah was coming. Jesus said to her, "I am He, the One speaking to you." (John 4:26 HCSB) She ran and told everyone, who came to see for themselves. The reaction of the Samaritans is priceless. "Therefore, when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days." (John 4:42 HCSB) They begged Him to stay. They wanted to know more and longed to hear more. The desire of their hearts were to remain in the moment for as long as they could.

The reason they wanted Him to stay was clear. As we read a few verses later, "And they told the woman, 'We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world." (John 4:42 HCSB) Can't you imagine how they were when Jesus was in their midst. They didn't care about food, sleep, the normal aggravations of life, or even the weather, for the Author of life was giving them insight on the meaning of life, unlocking the door to eternal life...and they wanted more!

As we look around, we see where the Lord has done amazing things. We have witnessed the Lord's hand at work in our lives and in our nation from the beginning. We have seen how, as a nation, our country has reacted like those in the region of the Gerasenes, telling the Lord to go away, to get out of the public square, to get out of our schools, to leave the scene and only appear when we need Him. What about our homes and our lives? Have we done the same?

When we see Jesus as the Savior of the world, we become like the Samaritans, wanting more, longing for just five more minutes. Everything is set aside because nothing else matters than having a place that is welcoming to Jesus. Rather than spending our time and effort on what doesn't matter, we spend our time coming to know the One who will always matter. Instead of focusing on what is here today and gone tomorrow, we fix our eyes on Jesus, the One who walks with us today and holds our tomorrow. We give up the world and we live a life of worship. So, it comes down to the question, "Is He welcome here?" Our lives answer that very question.