Are we to understand that there is a sense in which we resemble this youth? Yes, we have to be woken up to see our state is every bit as bad. If we do not accept that then we can never find God. We must come to him acknowledging our need and seeking the transformation that brings us to know him. This youth was in the grip of his demon possession and was compelled to behave as the demon drove him. While we are responsible for our sins, there is a sense in which we too are driven by them, because we have given way to them for so long. We come into the world with a sinful nature, and from the earliest time that we can act independently, we make choices that confirm that nature. Childhood is a time or relative innocence, but soon deep-seated habits start to form, and we cannot break free from them. You say, that view is too gloomy, but we only have to think of certain areas of our lives.
Take, for instance, pride. People might be outwardly humble and not boasters and braggers. But it is still the master of their lives. All our attention is on how we will be seen. Are we going to come out of this looking good? Will we come across as clever, gifted, deserving credit, or are we going to be put to shame? If the latter, then pride may cause an outburst of resentment. Then there is self-indulgence and deceit. How much we need to be relieved from those traits. Then think of greed. I must have this or I cannot be happy. I get a taste for certain things and want more, then I am on the treadmill of greed. Then there is hostility towards people. We can be so unkind. Who has not got such a record of sin? We are in the grip of it and need release from it.
Like this boy, we work against our own interest. Generally speaking we will not worship, and we nurture unbelief. We say, ‘Give me ideas that furnish unbelief.’ It is against your interest to fill your head with every cynical view, but we still do it. You doubt this, you doubt that. You clutch hold of everything you hear which throws doubt upon God. Yes, but then your heart becomes a heart of stone, and you can't help it, and you can't reason any more after a while. It's got control of you. You will never soften or open up to the things of God. You have become a hard case. We destroy our hope of life. So yes, what he did has its reflection in our life. Luke tells us that he was constantly bruising himself. To look at him you would think people set about him daily. In God’s sight we are wounded by sin. God sees the bubbling pride in our nature. We cannot pray or understand his word and the explanation for all things. He cannot get through to us and we do not respond to him. This youth was virtually a lunatic. He had no power to release himself. The Greek suggests that they dragged him to Christ. We do not spontaneously say, I will seek God and confess my sin to him. Nobody says that. If God did not take the initiative, there is no way we would ever come to Christ.
Occasionally I hear someone say, ‘I am a Christian and belong to this group.’ I say, tell me about the time you really hungered after God and saw you needed forgiveness. You think it is just carrying out certain duties and having an interest. It is much more; it is a matter of coming to God. It is a matter of repenting and believing and having spiritual life infused into you, and being given citizenship in heaven.