get out of my boat
Some of the most unusual scripture in the Bible is found in Mark chapter 5. It describes a possessed man who was living in a cave. He was so haunted by demons, that he spent his days cutting himself and his evenings crying out in despair.
Jesus healed this man and freed him from his demonic possession, sending the demons into a herd of pigs. The pigs, full of this man’s demons, ran down a steep bank and jumped in a lake killing themselves. (Like I said, unusual scripture.)
But what happens next in the story is even more bizarre. The man asked Jesus if he could become one of disciples and spend the rest of his life devoted to Christ. Jesus’ response was, “No!”
That’s right, Jesus rejected the idea of this man becoming one of his disciples, or did he? Jesus left him with a greater mission, a mission he was still training his disciples to accomplish.
He told him that instead of spending his life in Jesus’ boat, he needed to get out and share the message of Jesus’ love, compassion, and power with others.
And that’s the point: Jesus wants to do something in our lives so that he can do something through our lives. We place a high priority on spending time in prayer and scripture reading, but we also place priority on responding to the needs of our families and community.
Read Mark 5: 1-20
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