Back for more Tattoo Church Reading Plan? Do you realize if you have been doing this each day so far you have read the Bible everyday for a whole week?!? That’s awesome! And if you are just joining us, or missed a couple days, it’s still awesome that you’re taking time out to spend with God. Keep up the good work! Today we are reading Mark 5. Here are some notes and somethings to think over:
- So this crazy guy who lives in a graveyard runs to meet Jesus as soon as he steps off the boat. Can you imagine this scene. Jesus is just trying to dry the water off his feet and some naked dude runs at him, like a streaker across a football field. No I didn’t make up the naked part elsewhere the Bible tells us he was. So, a naked dude covered in dirt, and blood runs at Jesus from a graveyard. I bet the guys that were in the boat with Jesus where freaking out!
- Jesus immediately sets out to free the guy from the evil spirits that were making a wreck of this man’s life. That’s just like Jesus, everyone else was probably thinking, “Umm, dude you’re naked and bloody”; but Jesus was thinking of how to help the guy become the person he was made to be.
- The crazy thing to me is after Jesus sets this guy free people from the local town come beg Jesus to leave. I can’t help but think Jesus must have been thinking; “Are you serious? I just helped this guy!”
- Then as Jesus is getting back in his boat (Because he doesn’t force himself on people. They asked him to leave so he did.) the freed man begged to be one of his followers but Jesus tells him go back to his hometown and tell everyone what he had done for him. The guy goes back to his hometown and tells everyone but doesn’t stop there. Verse 20 tells us he began to tell in the Decapolis. The Decapolis was a ten city area. So he didn’t just stop at his town he went to ten other cities! This sounds like a small task to us today but he didn’t have a car and probably walked hundreds of miles. That’s nuts right?!?
Notice how Jesus helps the guy at his greatest need but other people couldn’t appreciate this. They must have been scared, and honestly rightly so. But notice the response of the guy Jesus healed. He obeyed Jesus but couldn’t stop there. He just kept going. Once Jesus changes your life you can’t help but share that grace with everyone else. Not in some creepy cliche way but in normal conversation. Kind of like if you discovered the best Thai food restaurant in your life, like life changing good, you’d tell others about it right? Of course you would! Wouldn’t it be even more important to help others discover there is a God who loves them and wants to be involved in their life, to help them become more than they ever imagined they could be? Who are you sharing what God is doing in your life with? Sometimes it can be hard knowing what to say right? Just do what this guy did, share what God is doing in your life. And if you’re not even sure if you believe in God but are curious about it now then talk to people about that. If they’re jerks about it then move on to the next person until you find some open minded person who you can share with. Or email me Tommy@tattoochurch.com