Matthew 8:34
And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.

Imagine living in the generation when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, walked upon this earth in a body of flesh. Imagine being in one of the nearby towns that He would actually go to visit. Imagine being in such a place when an amazing miracle occurred. And imagine that your reaction in response to all of this, when you do go out to see Him, is to ask Him to leave and to go away from you and to choose to have no part with Him.

Today we don’t live in a generation where Jesus walks upon the earth as a man, but He is still alive and at work in this world. He is still seeking the lost and saving souls and healing the brokenness in people’s lives. We can know Him and interact with Him and have a relationship with Him, but what is our response to Him? Do we ever ask Him to depart from us? Maybe not in so many words. But do we run to have our devotions each day? Are we seeking Him earnestly in prayer? Do our hearts and minds wander toward other things and desires as we sit under the preaching of God’s Word, or are we not even bothering to go to church to hear it?

It is a personal thing, an individual choice, and it is then either a life-fulfilling pursuit of following Jesus or the missed opportunity that comes when we send Him away from us. He doesn’t stay where He’s not wanted. He doesn’t beg us to want Him. But He will come to where we are and give us a chance to spend time knowing Him, serving Him, and following Him with our lives.