“Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when Jesus had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit” (Mark 5:1-2)
“He was a great, hulking brute of a man, that madman of Gadar. The fearful villagers had bound him often with fetters and chains, but he had broken them like string. The legion of demons who possessed him had driven him into the mountains and the tombs, where he had his dwelling. Tormented by the devil, he had stripped off his garments and was continually crying out and gashing his body with stones.
“But one glorious day he met the Great Physician. The Master came and healed him, and the next time we see him who had been the madman he is calm and clothed and in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus!
“The time arrived that the Teacher must go on about His ministry and as He was entering the boat, the one who had been the madman besought Him, saying, “Jesus, could I go with you?”
“No,” tenderly replied the Master, “I want you to go to your home and to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you!”
“Oh, what about us, can we do that, too? Shouldn’t we do it? Will we do it? – We who have experienced the healing touch of the Great Physician! Can we not, should we not also go to our home and to our friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for us!
“Just how far am I willing to go That the Gospel may be preached?
Just how much am I willing to give
That the lost ones may be reached?
“Just how much am I willing to pray
For the souls that are lost in sin?
Just how much am I willing to do
To and bring them in?
“Just how yielded am I to Christ
Do I let His Spirit fill? Just how willing to pay the price-
To obey the Master’s will?”
(Willie W. White – Adapted)
Many years ago it used to really upset me when I would hear a minister suggest that one of the chief points we would be judged on at the Great Judgment Day was whether or not we had won anyone for Christ, had brought anyone else to Heaven with us. Perhaps it used to irritate me so because it made me so uncomfortable!
Whether we have actually “won” someone for the Lord may not be the issue. We cannot convert anyone; only God can save a soul. But our task is to be a light for Jesus, a witness, a message-bearer. Ours is the privilege and the joy of sharing with others “what great things the Lord has done in our lives”, what a difference He has made!
The reclaimed madman went cheerfully and thankfully to his witnessing! Won’t we do so likewise if we are truly grateful to Christ?
When was the last time I (you) shared with others “what Jesus has done for me”?
Larry Atkin, Preacher
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