“They arrived on the other side of the sea in the country of the Gerasenes. As Jesus got out of the boat, a madman from the cemetery came up to him. He lived there among the tombs and graves. No one could restrain him—he couldn’t be chained, couldn’t be tied down. He had been tied up many times with chains and ropes, but he broke the chains, snapped the ropes. No one was strong enough to tame him. Night and day he roamed through the graves and the hills, screaming out and slashing himself with sharp stones. When he saw Jesus a long way off, he ran and bowed in worship before him—then howled in protest, “What business do you have, Jesus, Son of the High God, messing with me? I swear to God, don’t give me a hard time!” (Jesus had just commanded the tormenting evil spirit, “Out! Get out of the man!”) Jesus asked him, “Tell me your name.” He replied, “My name is Mob. I’m a rioting mob.” Then he desperately begged Jesus not to banish them from the country. A large herd of pigs was grazing and rooting on a nearby hill. The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs so we can live in them.” Jesus gave the order. But it was even worse for the pigs than for the man. Crazed, they stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned. Those tending the pigs, scared to death, bolted and told their story in town and country. Everyone wanted to see what had happened. They came up to Jesus and saw the madman sitting there wearing decent clothes and making sense, no longer a walking madhouse of a man. Those who had seen it told the others what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. At first they were in awe—and then they were upset, upset over the drowned pigs. They demanded that Jesus leave and not come back. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the demon-delivered man begged to go along, but he wouldn’t let him. Jesus said, “Go home to your own people. Tell them your story—what the Master did, how he had mercy on you.” The man went back and began to preach in the Ten Towns area about what Jesus had done for him. He was the talk of the town.” (Mark 5:1-20 The Message Bible)
The text was long, so I truly will be brief. When you have “one of those days.” when you don’t feel like yourself, and by that, I mean you don’t feel like you are in your right Christian mind, call on Jesus. When you are down physically, downhearted, distressed, depressed, or disturbed, call on Jesus. When you are easily irritated, ignited to anger by someone’s words that were not spoken to interrupt your peace, or interrupted by the disrupter’s (the devil’s) influence, call on Jesus. When you are mad at the world, or at least it seems so by your mannerisms, and you can’t explain what is making you that way, call on Jesus! When you recognize your mental state affects your physical state, all because you are not in your right mind, call on Jesus. When it becomes hard for you to overcome going from place-to-place void of a joyful emotion, please, please, call on Jesus. When your behavior is such that you know it is causing alarm among others around you, call on Jesus.
Why did I choose to write this meditation today? I’ll tell you why! It is because we all, all believers, we all have days when we don’t feel like ourselves! The remedy: Call on Jesus! Call on the Lord! Let Him intervene and put you in your right, righteous, revering God mind! Look! I needed this and I know you will too some days. Maybe even today.
Lastly, if today is one of those days where you don’t feel like yourself, call on Jesus, sing the words of the familiar song below accompanied a faithful heart, and you will find that it will make your day an “afterwhile” day! Be blessed!
“I know that Jesus will fix it! I know that Jesus will fix it! I know that Jesus will fix it afterwhile!”
Mark L. King