The Gift of New Life

This morning we got down to our meeting place early and prepared things for our Sunday worship gathering. Ruth and I were there but no one else was. We waited and waited a little longer and then we saw the first people arrive. Then more arrived. And more arrived until we had a nice number of people in attendance. Of course we know that the important thing is that no matter how many are gathered together, the Lord is present. (not taking Matthew 18:20 out of context)
So we sought to make the best use of our time by doing the most important thing that we can do; giving the Lord the worship that is due His Name. When it came to worship the Lord through the reading and exposition of His Word, our main text was Mark 5:1-20. The text speaks of Jesus healing a demon-possessed man in the region of the Gadarenes. It truly is a remarkable account of how Jesus sets this man free and gives him the gift of new life. We were all encouraged to consider the fact that the Lord has offered to do the same thing for us (John 3:16-17) and when His salvation becomes a reality in our lives it is no less of a miracle than when a legion of demons were cast out a man some 2,000 years ago. When one is in Christ, he or she becomes a new creation. (2nd Corinthians 5:17) New life and eternal life are our new realities. And what should we now do? We should do what the man in the text did. His first desire was to be with the Lord and not leave His side. And we can and are encouraged to do the same. (John 15:4-8; etc.) However you will note that the Lord told the man that "no" you can't come with me now (nor can we, see Philippians 1:23-24 etc.) because I have another mission for you. (Mark 5:18-19) So our mission, yours and mine, those of us who have been given this gift of new life in Christ have the privilege and responsibility of communicating to those around us, through word and deed the good news that their is new life available to them as well. And this new life is found in but one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:12; 2nd Corinthians 5:21; 1st Timothy 2:5-6) Praise be to God for His gift of new life!