Yesterday, we looked at Jesus' parable of the man with the evil spirit from Luke 11:  ²⁴“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ ²⁵When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. ²⁶Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”  Luke 11:24-26 NIV  As we saw, eliminating the negative from our lives isn't enough.  The man probably thought his life had taken a turn for the better when the evil spirit left.  In truth, it was about to take a turn for the radically worse!

What we learn from Jesus' parable is that after we get rid of the negative, we need to take a positive step.  The first positive step any of us can take that matters for now AND for eternity is to trust Jesus as Savior and Lord.  That's filling the void in our lives with the one reality for which it exists.  Pascal said each of us has a "God-shaped vacuum."  The man in Jesus' parable found out the hard way that unless that vacuum is filled with God, it WILL be filled with something else.

What are you doing in your life right now to ensure that God is filling the space in your life created for Him?  Have your already taken the first positive step?  Is Jesus your Savior and Lord?  If not, today would be a great day to give Him control.  After all, until we take that first positive step, our hearts are open to anyone and anything , as the man in Jesus' parable found out the hard way.

Giving Jesus the "space" created within us for Him is simple--not easy, but simple.  Each of us comes to Jesus in our own way, but the common threads in the process are---admitting to Jesus that He has not been in control of our lives; confessing that we have sinned and lived apart from His will; believing that He's God and has the power to transform our lives; asking Him to take over. That's the first positive step in a life of positive steps, that leads to us becoming more and more like Jesus in the power of His Spirit.  Jesus called it being born again.  The Apostle Paul called it becoming a new creature or creation.  Whatever we call it, the change it brings is the difference between a life of meaning and purpose and eternity with God, or a life of constant striving to fill the "vacuum," and eventual separation from God forever.    Any of you who are reading who take that first positive step right now, or who want to find out more about it, let me know!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for not only eliminating evil in our lives, but giving us a future filled with Your presence through Jesus saving power, and the presence of Your Holy Spirit.  Fill us right now that we may take the first right step, or do the next right thing.  This we pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.