To The Self-Destructive

And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones.  But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him.

Mark 5:5,6

Our text describes a self-destructive person.  We may arrive at self-destructiveness in various ways.  Rather than discuss those ways, let us dwell on the simple idea that, however this man arrived at where he was, he was continually harming himself.  Having said that, there are other examples in the life of Christ where we see Him encountering others who were also self-destructive although perhaps not so apparently.  The woman at the well had lived an immoral life and had marginalized herself from society in the process.  In a de facto way, she had brought herself to a circumstance that would eventually destroy her.  Christ is the God of the self-destructive person.  He did not despise the maniac of Gadara or the woman at the well.  In both of these instances, He went out of His way to seek them personally.  Many of us are inclined toward self-destruction in one way or another.  If Christ could minister to these people, He can minister to us.  The answer to our self-destructiveness is not mere religion or more religion.  The answer is Christ.  Our ‘looking unto Jesus’ is indispensable to our living, even though the inclination to self-destruction may tempt us all our days.  There is no other or better answer than Christ.

Our Merciful, Kind and Gracious Savior,
we rejoice that You minister to us in our darkest hours.
We praise You that day-by-day,
You are the light that shines upon us in our darkness.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning