Some years ago, at a Billy Graham crusade, a Russian man went forward to accept Christ as his personal Savior. Because he didn’t speak a word of English, the Russian interpreter at the crusade asked him why he had come to the front. The Russian man answered, “When I entered this place, I was overwhelmed with a longing for God. Tell me, how can I find Him?”

Jesus received a very different response to His healing of a demon-possessed man. This pitiable soul was so disturbed that he lived in a cemetery and couldn’t even be subdued with chains, though the townspeople had tried on numerous occasions. Mark 5 tells us that night and day he would run through the tombs and hills screaming and cutting himself. People must have been terrified of him!

Jesus was filled with compassion for the man and sent the evil spirits who were terrorizing him into a herd of pigs. When the townspeople saw the man with Jesus, dressed, calm and in his right mind, we would assume that they would be overcome with gratefulness to God! That’s not what happened.

“Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region (Mark 5:17).”

Have you ever felt that the person whom you desperately want to accept Christ would just rather not deal with Jesus, even if they have to choose to ignore the obvious activity of God around them? It’s not your imagination! “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4).”

What do we do? We pray that the Holy Spirit would open their eyes. John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the dark, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Sometimes it takes a long time for our loved ones to accept the light of God, in the meantime we pray, and we keep reflecting the light of God to them.

We are so glad to have you in Bible study with us! If you miss a devotion, you can find them archived at https://comethirstyministry.com/blog/

Reading Plan–Week Seven

Day One–Mark 3
Day Two–Mark 4
Day Three–Mark 5
Day Four–Mark 6
Day Five–Mark 7