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“And when He was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed Him that he might be with Him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee” (Mark 5:18-19).
As we noted yesterday, here in this account in Mark’s gospel, only one man is mentioned as being possessed with demons. I believe there were actually two men, as we see in Matthew, but only one of them was really attached to the Lord Jesus. He was very thankful for what the Lord had done for him, and wanted to be with Him. The Lord Jesus wanted to use that kind of a man.
The book of Mark is the record of the Lord Jesus as the perfect servant, and He wants others, like you and me, to serve Him too. But only those who appreciate Him, and want to be with Him, can serve Him properly. It does not say anything in Mark about the other man, but probably he went away, happy to be released from Satan’s power, but not particularly caring about being with the Lord Jesus. The one who wanted to be with Him was told to go and tell others about the Lord Jesus.
What kind of Christian are you? Are you one who enjoys having your sins forgiven, but does not care much about the Lord Jesus, or are you one who wants to be with Him?
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