REASONS VARY

Today's reading: Mark 5-6

"The herdsmen fled to the nearby city and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. Everyone rushed out to see for themselves." Mark 5:14 NLT

A little background: Jesus had just healed a man from a legion of demons, had sent said demons into a herd of pigs and had sent said herd down a steep hillside to their death. A man's life was spared, changed, reclaimed, transformed!

The herdsmen? They weren't spreading the good news about the restoration of the man's life.

They weren't telling people about the miraculous touch of a man named Jesus.

They weren't calling the sick and afflicted out to the Healer.

They were complaining about their loss of income.

Newsflash: Those type of folks still exist today.

There will probably be some, more than likely be some, in your church service tomorrow. They may very well be regular attenders of your service. 

They go, not for the worship, but to find out the latest. They don't attend for the feeding upon the Word, but for the newest gossip-y morsel. They aren't there to fellowship with other believers for the sake of growing deeper in their faith walk, they want information of how very flawed their fellow members are so they can hold it against them.

And that is what they take away from the service.

That's what they share with the hungry, hurting, in need of a healing world.

They add insult to injury.

The moral of this devotion: don't be one of those kinds of folks. Repent of any desire to stir up trouble. Ask God's forgiveness in wanting to go to church for any reason other than to worship and to grow and fellowship. Refuse your enemy's bait when it comes to morsels of juicy bait.