During my road trip this last week one of the stops I made was to spend some time with my extended family. At one point I was sitting in a chair next to my Grandma as she was reading her Bible. Suddenly looking up from her Bible she smiled and told me that she been reading in Mark 5 when Jesus restores a demon-possessed man.
If you'll remember Jesus addresses the demon and says (And I'm paraphrasing a little here) "What is your name?"
The demon replies "My name is Legion, for we are many."
Then the demon asks Jesus to send them into a herd of pigs nearby and Jesus gave them permission then the pigs run down into the lake and drowned.
Grandma told me that for years she's been confused by this passage because those pigs had to have belonged to someone. And to be honest this has bothered me also. But as Grandma was reading this passage again something occurred to her they were in Israel, the people who owned the pigs were Jews and the Jews were forbidden from having pigs because they were unclean animals according to the Old Testament law! The Jews who owned the pigs were breaking the law that God had given them.
This piece of wisdom from Grandma reminds me that there are consequences to every decision we make. I would be wise to keep that in mind throughout my days. And maybe someday I'll be able to pass on my own tidbits of wisdom as I read my Bible and my granddaughter sits near.
If you'll remember Jesus addresses the demon and says (And I'm paraphrasing a little here) "What is your name?"
The demon replies "My name is Legion, for we are many."
Then the demon asks Jesus to send them into a herd of pigs nearby and Jesus gave them permission then the pigs run down into the lake and drowned.
Grandma told me that for years she's been confused by this passage because those pigs had to have belonged to someone. And to be honest this has bothered me also. But as Grandma was reading this passage again something occurred to her they were in Israel, the people who owned the pigs were Jews and the Jews were forbidden from having pigs because they were unclean animals according to the Old Testament law! The Jews who owned the pigs were breaking the law that God had given them.
This piece of wisdom from Grandma reminds me that there are consequences to every decision we make. I would be wise to keep that in mind throughout my days. And maybe someday I'll be able to pass on my own tidbits of wisdom as I read my Bible and my granddaughter sits near.
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