Once upon a time there was a
young woman who gave birth to a little boy, it was on a
beautiful moonlit night. My, he was a handsome little
fellow, and his father was so happy to have a son to call
his own. He would tell his friends who came to see the
little one, “see he looks just like me, he would say” he was
so proud, he just couldn’t take his eyes off his new baby.
He would hold that little bundle of joy and there would be
that warm feeling of love in his heart and his mother would
just beam as she would look into his little face and wonder
at every little feature, she would hold his little hands,
and even his little feet and she took such tender care of
him. She would see that he was dressed just right, and when
they went into public and church she would take special care
to see that he was dressed in his best clothes and
everything had to be matched just right, they were not poor
so she spared no expense to dress the little man perfectly,
she wanted everyone to see him as she did.
The young father and mother would spend hours with their
little boy and the father would make sure that everywhere
they went the little fellow was sure to come along. The
mother would watch with pride as her husband would hold
their little boy, he would talk about him to all his friends
and tell them what a fine man he was going to be. His father
an artist and sculpture of fine stone work and he was known
as one of the finest artist in the land, he was sought after
by customers from far and near. They would seek him out and
hire him to do statues, headstones for their graves. He also
carved out tombs for burial and did them with such great
skill. He would carve fine artwork on the tomb walls and he
took special care to do fine intricate carving on the stones
that would cover the tomb door. He used the finest material
such as marble, fine granite and other stones that he would
have shipped in from around the world.
The father also carved out fine statues and the mighty stone
columns that would adorn the finest churches and buildings
of the time. His skill at making the fine copings and
facings around the windows and doors were some of the finest
to be had. He had a talent for picking the stones with the
best colors and grain and his work was famous in the entire
world. Then came that proud day when for the first time he
was able to take that little boy to the carving shop with
him, the father was sure he had inherited his talent and
would also be one of the finest stone carvers of his time
also.
Finally the father took the
little fellow with him to work, he was so young, only just
entering his fifth year, he wanted the young fellow to get a
good start in life because in those days there was no
schools for the children, they would inherit the trade of
their fathers, grandfathers and other family members, or
they would be an apprentice to someone else in a trade of
their choosing.
The father had become so famous by now in his work that he
no longer wanted to do the tombs and graves anymore, after
all, his skill had risen above that kind of work years ago,
and stone carvers of lesser talent than his could do the
tombs, besides, he didn’t like hanging around the tombs of
the dead so much anymore, so he began to scoff at doing the
work of the, “grave carvers”, as he began to call them. The
father had made up his mind that his son would not do the
tombs either, for he was so sure that his son would not have
to stoop to that kind of low starting place as he had had to
do. You see; the father had come up under another stone
carver and all his talent would allow him to do was the
tombs and soon the father found he had a natural talent for
doing fine art work, so when he reached the age where he had
paid for his apprenticeship he had quit the grave carvers
job and moved on to do the fine statues and other stone
carvings he was so famous for doing.
The young son began to grow taller and stronger each day,
and he was such a handsome lad, he played with his friends
and his father would take him to work with him on some days
and he even gave him his own set of carving and artist tools
on his sixteenth birthday. The young man began to try his
hand at carving a small statue one day and much to the
fathers horror his son whom he thought would have such great
talent, just didn’t have it. With great distress the father
and mother would discuss the lack of talent the son had, and
it was also noticed by the father and mothers friends, and
their feelings showed, the son also noticed their
disappointment. The father was so disappointed that his son
was unable to be the famous stone carver and artist he was.
The son was ashamed he did not have his father’s abilities,
so he became withdrawn and spent most of his time by
himself. He spent his time carving grave stones of the
lowest class and that put him spending all his time in the
tombs. His attitude began to change and he went from a young
man with a sweet disposition to a belligerent hard hearted
bully.
The young man began spending all his time now working in the
tombs. He began wondering about the dead, after all he would
see them placed in the graves he was carving out of the
rocks. He had been going to church all his life, he had
heard about God since he was a baby. He had heard about
heaven and hell, but as he dwelt among the tombs he began
wondering about a God who would allow people to get sick and
die, and then be put into a hole in the rocks that he had
prepared for them. His heart began to harden against God,
after all he was a failure, his father and mother were not
proud of him, so he began to find there were voice’s talking
to him, The voices would say to him, If God loved you then
you wouldn’t be in the place you’re in now, you would have
inherited the talent of your father, and be as famous as he
is, and all the young beautiful women would be attracted to
you, but just look at you, you’re just a grave digger, and
that’s all you’re ever going to be. The young man began to
listen to the devil who was doing all the talking and he
turned from the Godly teachings of his youth and he began to
follow the devil into whatever he lead him into.
Before long the young man
began to hang out with the harlots and drunkards, he began
to drink all the wine and strong drink he could hold, he
would get just as drunk as he could be. God tried to talk to
him and bring him back from the direction his life was
headed, God said there’s nothing wrong with being who you
are, and it is a noble thing to carve a grave in the hard
rock for someone’s loved one to lie in until the
resurrection on that great day of the Lord, but the devil
didn’t want him to look at it that way, he wanted him to
feel ashamed of himself, and continue on down the road of
sin and destruction.
The “man” by now could no longer live at home, even though
his father and mother now realized that they were wrong in
the way they had been thinking, they tried reasoning with
their son, they told him they were sorry that they had been
ashamed of his lack of talent, but he was beyond listening
now, he had given himself over to the devil and found
himself living in the tombs. Now he was tormented with the
voices in his head, he began to run around the city without
any clothes on, and the men of the city would try to tie him
up with chains but he would break the chains. He had come to
the place that when the children would see him they would
run and hide from him, and the mothers feared for their
children to be out, so the men of the city drove him out of
the city into the tombs and there he began to feel his life
wasn't worth living, he felt there just wasn't any help for
him in his life, he hated the way he was living, but where
was he going to get any help.
One day as he was in the tombs beside the seashore, he
looked up and saw a boat approaching the shore, he watched
as the boat came closer, and as the boat drew near he began
feeling a sweet loving spirit, it was so sweet and kind and
there was so much love He remembered when he was a little
boy he had felt that same spirit when his parents had taken
him to church, but he had turned that kind, loving spirit
away. Now as he stood looking at that boat, longing for
deliverance, he was so miserable. He knew there was someone
in that boat that had the spirit of the living God in them,
he also knew there was no one in the world who could show
such love but the true and Living God . He found himself
drawn toward the boat, but the devils that had possession of
him didn't want him to go near this boat, these devils knew
the man who was on this boat, they knew also that it
wouldn't matter how much control they had on this man they
possessed, the man who was getting closer on this boat had
control over them and they feared what was about to happen
to them.
The man stood watching the
boat, he was naked, miserable, and looked like a wild man,
but there was a man who got out of the boat that he wanted
to get a closer look at, as he got closer to the man he saw
the kindest face and eyes he had ever looked into in his
life. The people that had gathered around were staring at
him, but it didn't matter what people thought about him
anymore, he was tired of sin and he wanted to be free from
the devils. he knew he was about to get some help and
deliverance from this man because the love was so strong.
and as he went toward the man the devils in him cried out,
and fell down before the man, and with a loud voice said,
What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most
high? I beseech thee, torment me not. When the young man
looked up he saw the kindest ,caring face he had ever seen
in all his life, you see, this was Jesus, the Savior of the
world, and there’s no devils in the world he couldn’t
handle. Jesus commanded the devils to come out of the man,
and he asked them their name and they said Legion, for we
are many. They prayed that Jesus would not send them into
the pit or the abyss, they asked Jesus if they could go into
the herd of pigs that was near by on the hill, Jesus told
them, “go”. When the devils entered into the pigs they ran
down the hill into the sea and were choked and drowned.
Isn’t that something, even the pigs want put up with the
devil, but people will.
All the people around saw what had happened and ran for
fear, but when they gained enough courage to come back to
see what had happened they saw the man that had been so
filled with the devils, sitting with Jesus, clothed and
above all, in his right mind.
The people were afraid when they saw and heard what had
happened and wanted Jesus to leave their country and the man
wanted to go with Jesus, but Jesus told him no, you can’t go
with me, but you can go back and tell your family and all
your friends what good things the Lord has done for you.
Well the “Wild Man” went walking back home, wouldn't it have
been a sight to see, I believe the father and mother could
not believe their eyes, Yes, this was their son, and he was
clothed and was talking about someone they had never heard
about, he said Jesus had set him free from all the devils,
and now he wanted to tell, and introduce the whole town to
Jesus, but the people had ran Jesus off, are you going to
run Jesus off, or are you going to accept him into your
life. You could not be in any worse shape than this man was,
but Jesus fixed every problem in his life.
If you are tired of the way your life is going and you have
no peace in your soul, I’ll tell you today that there’s no
greater peace to be found if you give your heart and life to
Jesus. It’s not hard, all you have to do is no matter where
you are, just bow your head and ask Jesus to forgive you of
your sins, and believe it in your heart, and he will make
your life worth living, he will give you a joy such as you
have never had in your life, and “Your Life will Be Worth
Living After All”.
This story is a paraphrase or allegory of the story of the
Maniac of the Gadarenes as spoken of in the Holy Bible.
Jesus left the country because they ran him off the first
time he came, but later when he returned they ran out to
meet him with out stretched arms because the man who’s life
was not worth living and who was just a miserable naked
grave digger, filled with a legion of devils had became an
evangelist and persuaded about the whole town to receive
Jesus, you see the town people knew the man they thought was
a maniac, then they saw that all the man needed was Jesus in
his life, they realized that there was something that had
happened to this wrecked man, that no other person but Jesus
could have set free, Jesus can set you free from any problem
in your life and he can make you a new person . If you
accept Jesus there’s no telling what may happen in your
life, you may get more souls saved and fine that “Your Life
is Worth Living After All”
The story above comes from these scriptures below, we hope
you will read this and give your life to Jesus; if you
already know Jesus you may pass this story on your friends.
The Gospel is free so please don’t sell this story to
anyone, but if you pass it on to someone who is in trouble
you just may save a soul from an eternity in hell.
Reverend James D. Allen ©Copyright,
2007 all Rights Reserved.
LUKE 8:26 And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes,
which is over against Galilee.
27 And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the
city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no
clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before
him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with
thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee,
torment me not.
29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of
the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept
bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands,
and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)
30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he
said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.
31 And they besought him that he would not command them to
go out into the deep.
32 And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the
mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to
enter into them. And he suffered them.
33 Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the
swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into
the lake, and were choked.
34 When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and
went and told it in the city and in the country.
35 Then they went out to see what was done; and came to
Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were
departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his
right mind: and they were afraid.
36 They also which saw it told them by what means he that
was possessed of the devils was healed.
37 Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes
round about besought him to depart from them; for they were
taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and
returned back again.
38 Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought
him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away,
saying,
39 Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God
hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published
throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done
unto him. By James Allen, ©Copyright 2007, all
Rights Reserved |
