Rev. Ray and Pat Amos
Matthew 8:28
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, January 9, 2021
“…No One Could Pass That Way…”
I once had a member whose Father had been a circuit-riding preacher. She told me about her childhood during those days when they traveled by horse and buggy; I remember this story: There was a road that they frequently had to travel somewhere near Hilton’s Virginia. There was a mound of rocks beside the road where a robber had been shot and buried. Each time they came near that spot, she would beg her Father to drive fast because she was afraid to pass it. She said that the horse finally got to the point where it just automatically would start running when they came to that place in the road.
Are there places where you have wanted to pass by as quickly as possible? Today’s text talks about a place near a burial ground where no one could pass because two demon possessed men lived among the tombs and terrorized people as they passed by. There is no road so dangerous that Jesus will not take it to save someone; and no one so troubled that our Savior will turn and walk away from him/her.
Every time that a person is redeemed, the community is made a better and kinder place. We need a lot of salvation in our world today. Recent events in our country reveal what happens when a nation turns its back on God. The blame game helps nothing; it only divides friends and family. Are we are ready to look in our own mirror and admit our failure to live wholeheartedly for Christ and to take the great commission seriously? We sing the hymn, “Come back quickly to the Lord, just come back to the Lord.” The words mean little if the singer is not standing with Christ. As Peter says, “It is time for judgment to begin with God’s household.”
The men were healed, but there was a cost of a herd of swine to the community. The whole town was made a safer place and they all got together, not to give Jesus the key to the city, but to demand that he leave. It seems okay for Jesus to pay the price of Calvary for our sins, but are we willing to pay the price of living for Jesus, and living his way?
There is one way for the mess in this nation to be cleaned up. We must each one sweep around our own door first. Is it clean around the door of your heart if Jesus should pass by today?
“Since Jesus passed by,
Since Jesus passed by;
Oh what a difference
Since Jesus passed by.
Well I can’t explain it
And I cannot tell you why,
But oh what a difference
Since Jesus passed by.”
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray
Link to Youtube – Since Jesus Passed By- Amen Quartet
