New Testament passage for Saturday, April 5, 2014: Luke 11:14-36
24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” Luke 11:24-25 (NKJV)
"Nature abhors a vacuum." So postulated the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle. If this is true in the natural world, it is also true in the spiritual. Nothing is as dangerous as an empty soul.
Jesus tells the tough story of a man who only majored in the NEGATIVES. First off, the poor guy is under demonic attack. A bit of good news comes his way. He gets set free. Delivered!
The expelled demon wanders aimlessly around for a while but decides to re-visit his old home. The demon finds the former house "swept and in order." EMPTY! With delight, the demon decides to throw a party -- a house warming (no pun intended), and invites seven of his fellow demons.
In the end, the man is worse off than at the start. Even though he had a powerful deliverance and, for a while, was FREE, he ends up more demonized than ever.
The man is a picture of people who go HALF WAY. They only deal with getting bad things OUT OF their life, but never go on to getting good things INTO their life.
True Christianity is not built on NEGATIVES. It is not a matter of what you stop doing. It is a matter of what you start doing.
Paul addresses this in Ephesians 5:18 when he says, "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit." The first part is NEGATIVE: don't get drunk! But the more important instruction comes next: Be filled with the Spirit. That's POSITIVE.
Nothing is as dangerous as an empty soul. Men and women everywhere are constantly striving to fill the void (vacuum) inside. Life can be a succession of swapping one addiction for another. The end result is never satisfying.
It really doesn't matter how many wonderful spiritual experiences you have had in the past. What is filling your soul today? If you fill it up with the love of God, with truth and light, with peace like a river, God says He will give you more of the same. If you remain empty, just remember: nature abhors a vacuum.
Jesus sets a table before us and invites us, "Come, eat and drink to the full!"
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