GRATITUDE LET ME TELL YOU HOW HAPPY GOD HAS MADE ME! FOR HE HAS CLOTHED ME WITH GARMENTS OF SALVATION AND DRAPED ABOUT ME THE ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. I AM LIKE A BRIDEGROOM IN HIS WEDDING SUIT OR A BRIDE WITH HER JEWELS. Isaiah 61:10 Mark, the writer of the book of Mark in the New Testament gave an account of how Jesus met a demon-possessed man ran out from a graveyard, just as He had climbed out of the boat. Mark 5:3-8 says: This man lived among the gravestones, and had such strength that whenever he was put into handcuffs and shackles -as he often was- he snapped the handcuffs from his wrists and smashed the shackles and walked away. No one was strong enough to control him. All day long and through the night he would wander among the tombs and in the wild hills, screaming and cutting himself with sharp pieces of stone. When Jesus was still far out on the water, the man had seen Him and had run to meet Him, and fell down before Him. Then Jesus spoke to the demon within the man and said Come out, you evil spirit. It gave a terrible scream, shrieking, What are you going to do to me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? For Gods sake, dont torture me! It is pretty obvious that even demons and evil spirits know so well that Christ Jesus is the Son of the Most High God, our Father. Indeed, the demon was obviously afraid of Jesus and he begged Him to send him into a herd of swine after introducing himself to Jesus as Legion. Jesus filled with compassion and mercy gave them permission to enter the herd of swine and the entire herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned. There and then the herdsmen fled to the nearby towns and countryside, spreading the news. Lo and behold, a large crowd soon gathered where Jesus was; but as they saw the man sitting there, fully clothed and perfectly sane, they became afraid. The countenance that fell on the crowd was quite shocking because it was an event that ideally the people of Garadenes should have rejoiced over. Simply because Christ had solved their problem by getting ride of that uncontrollable Legion. But they were rather frightened. Lets follow Mark as he continues in verses 16 and 17: Those who saw what happened were telling everyone about it, and the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone! What at all would make the people drive Jesus away from among them? Instead of welcoming Him with opened arms. Probably, they felt offended because they had lost their swine delicacy to the lake and therefore couldnt trust what He would do the next moment. The people of Garadenes lost Jesus when they needed Him most because they couldnt show gratitude to Him lifting their burden and clothing the demon possessed man. Gratitude shown for even a little kindness is greatly appreciated in heaven. That is why Isaiah testified of how glad he was when he was clothed with the robe of righteousness. Jesus Himself complained about the remaining nine lepers who refused to come and thank Him for healing them. Let thankfulness fill our hearts always and praises ascend to heaven for even the most smallest gift received from God, and greater things shall come our way.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 15:38:25 +0000
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