Don't let your fear push Jesus away!

Seems kind of strange that we would think about driving Jesus away from us and our lives, but sometimes that's what happens.  You see, there's this thing called fear that creeps in and makes us do things that don't seem to make sense.  In Mark 5: 1-18 we see how Jesus comes to a place and delivers a demon possessed man who lived in the graveyard.  That's not where our focus is right now.  The focus instead is on what happens in verses 14 - 17.  You see the people from the town heard about what Jesus had done for the demon possessed man.  They saw the fact that the former demon possessed man was now in his right mind and clothed.  You'd think they'd be excited about what Jesus had done and invite him to come and do the same things for the issues they had in their own lives.  But..... that's not what happened.  Even after seeing what Jesus had done, the people asked him to leave their area.  That's right.... they pushed him away!  Now the Word doesn't tell us why they told him to go, but it's pretty obvious that fear had something to do with it.  They may have been afraid of what their lives would look like delivered.  They may have been afraid of the impact on their livelihood if Jesus removed some of the things that had been binding them. They may have been afraid of what their friends and family would say about the "new" them.  Regardless of the reason, they pushed Jesus away.  And you know what... He gave them what they wanted.... He left!  Lord, I don't ever want the fear I have of the unknown or of the "what's next" allow me to push you away from having an active role in my life! Let that be your prayer today.  Don't let your fear push Jesus away!