Prayer
Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this lovely prayer directly from Psalm 141:1-2,
I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me;
hear me when I call to you.
May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
Amen.
Reading
After crossing Lake Galilee and stilling a physical storm (thereby demonstrating His miraculous authority over nature) Jesus arrived in the region of the Gerasenes and liberated a man who was possessed by a “Legion” of demons (thereby demonstrating His miraculous authority over the spiritual realm too).
In today’s brief passage, Jesus prepared to depart across the Lake again. It seems the Heavenly Father had sent Him here just for this one man. How glorious it is to think that one individual whose life is in such an almighty mess is so precious to the Lord that He would travel across the Lake to find him and rescue him!
Immediately the man approached Jesus and begged to go with Him. But Jesus did not allow that. Instead He gave an instruction that I believe we can all take as a general instruction too:
‘Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.’ (v.19)
Many of us find it very difficult to speak about Jesus to those who are closest to us. Perhaps we fear rejection. Perhaps we fear that they know too much about how messed up our lives have been. Perhaps we don’t know how we will answer the questions they may have.
But here Jesus tells us directly to speak to “your own people” and also what the content of our speaking should be; i.e., “How much the Lord has done for you.” There is enormous power in a personal testimony of how we have experienced the Lord’s goodness to us. Some of that power lies in the fact that it is easy for us to remember what to say because it is quite simply what we have experienced. Some of its power lies in the fact that those who know us best should be able to observe the powerful impact of Jesus on our lives and the changes He is bringing about in us. And some of its power lies in the fact that such a testimony leaves us free to answer difficult questions with a simple response, “To be honest, I don’t know what to say to that. I trust He will make much more clear to me as time goes by and I grow in my faith; but for now it is enough for me to know what the Lord has done for me and to be incredibly grateful!”
Contemplation
Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn this declaration over and over in your mind. Keep it in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.
As a disciple of Jesus Christ:
- I will tell those closest to me what the Lord has done for me and how He has had mercy on me.
Holy Spirit, please guide me and empower my speaking today. Help me to bear witness to family members and friends about what Jesus has done for me, and how He has had mercy on me. Amen.
Dave's Diary 