#5kMay2018 Day 18

Another day, another 5k. Well, today I went a little beyond again. I ran my 4 mile “Fairlawn Loop” in just under 30 minutes (29:58). I was moving at an average pace of 7:29 per mile. It was a nice, mid-morning run.

I initially thought the weather was perfect this morning, but I was sweating quite a bit by the end, so it must have been a bit warmer than I realized. Overall, it really was a great day for a mid-morning run.

Reading through Luke 8-10 this morning, I realized that there are just so many verses and so much that I would love to talk about. Alas! I cannot. I have determined to restrain myself and exercise a little bit of discipline. Otherwise my tendency would be to exposit scripture to the extent that you, my faithful reader, would likely fall asleep from boredom. Or even more likely, simply stop reading.

So… all that to say that today I want to just take a look at the words of Jesus to the man who was healed of demon possession in the country of the Gerasenes.

The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:38–39, ESV)

It is such a simple couple of verses, but it really feels like a key exchange to me.

For those of us who have experienced Jesus in our lives, who have been saved from the hell that we were going to and the hell that we were going through, doesn’t it seem right to have an attitude that begs Jesus, our Healer, our Savior, that we might be with Him?!

That seems right to me. I would love to be with Jesus right now. I resonate with the Apostle Paul, who wrote to the Philippians of his desire to depart and be with Christ.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me… My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. (Philippians 1:21–23, ESV)

The desire to be in heaven with Jesus is strong, but He still has work for us to do here. So, like the man who was healed of demon possession in the country of the Gerasenes, Jesus says to us, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” 

We have work to do, and that work includes declaring to those around us how much God has done for us! He really is good! He really is faithful! He really has saved me from myself, from Satan, and from sin and death! He is worthy of praise and worthy of my declaration.

Do you feel the same?

If so, may we, once again, be like the man who was healed of demon possession in the country of the Gerasenes, who did what Jesus told him to do, and went away proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

*5k Every Day in the Month of May 2018 is brought to you by Jeff Polen Music and Vertical Runner of Wooster. If you are joining the fun, don’t forget about the Facebook group, the Strava group, and the printable PDF.