I Need You To Tell Me To Get Excited
After they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and anchored there. As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized Jesus. They ran through that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever he was rumored to be. And wherever he would go – into villages, towns, or countryside – they would place the sick in the marketplaces, and would ask him if they could just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed. Mark 6:53–56 NET Read More
The way this reads is kind of funny, if you read it wrong. When it says “they ran through that whole region” it’s talking about the people of Gennesaret, not Jesus and the disciples. When you are reading the scriptures and something catches you eye, even something silly like that, slow down and go over it again. It might be the Holy Spirit getting your attention.
We have a lot of trouble with our attention. We live in a time where it’s completely acceptable to open our Bible app and be hit with ads for reading plans and verses of the day, when we really just want to read the Bible. If one Facebook like comes in while we’re reading, it’s so easy to lose the train of thought and forget that Jesus hasn’t actually slept for a while now in Mark 6.
We need to remind each other about Jesus every single day. Remind your spouse about God’s love. Remind your kids about God’s mercy this morning. Hang up pictures and sit your Bible in your wake up path to remind yourself. When we really consider who Jesus is and what He did, we don’t think twice about wasting a half hour playing Clash of the Clans, we run to Him and take all of our cares to Him.
Imagine people bringing out all of their sick and hurting into the marketplaces so that they’d be there when Jesus passed by. Imagine being so desperate for hope that you’d leave work for a day, pick up that friend of yours that is homebound, and taking them out to sit in hopes that Jesus would pass by to heal them. They were driven. They understood the full power of Jesus from the rumors and the news.
There is an old Persian saying that a good perfume needs no advertisement. People understood the power of Jesus to a level that no convincing was needed. Some of the 5,000 that were fed could have been from this area. Just knowing and believing a little bit about Jesus was enough to make people come to Him.
Let’s have that attitude in us, that was in the people of Gennesaret. Believe the rumors of Jesus’ power. Go to great lengths to bring the hurt, the sick, and the powerless to Him. He is passing through among us and in us, and He loves to put down His anchor and walk through our town.
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