In a very well known biblical account found in the gospels of Mark and Luke, Jesus freed a wild, uncontrollable man from a legion of demons. Since the evil spirits that were driven out of him entered into a herd of swine which proceeded to dive into the sea and drowned, the terrorized and confused local folk asked Jesus to leave the area. When the ex-demonized man, now back in his right mind, asked the Lord if he could go with Him, Jesus told him: “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:19)
Can you imagine the fantastic story this man had? The truth is that all of us who have had a life changing encounter with Jesus, also have a story to tell. And if Christ wanted the ex demon possessed man to share it at every opportunity, He undoubtedly wants us to do the same. Many Christians I know shortchange themselves thinking their experience with Jesus is boring and uneventful. Not so! I feel slightly uneasy whenever I hear a child of God say something like: “When I gave my life to Jesus, I wasn’t that bad a person. Because of it, I don’t have much of a story to tell.” To begin with, those who think this way must not be convinced that, before Christ, they were just as lost and in need of God's mercy as anybody else, but listen: many ex alcoholics, drug addicts, thieves, and others who were amazingly transformed, will actually feel a bit envious of those who can say they were brought up in church and never got into trouble. They will wish they had that story instead.
Think hard. If you love the Lord with all your heart today, there had to have been a time when you finally realized that He was indeed a big part of your life. Its okay if the change was gradual, what matters most is that you love the Lord today and that you know He lives in your heart. Don’t go around thinking you don’t have much of a story to tell, because you do.
The prolific hymn writer, Fanny J. Crosby, wrote many great hymns that are still going strong and being sung today in most churches even though she died over a hundred years ago. She was blind all her life so we must conclude that she had quite a story to share with others. Yet, in one of her best known hymns, she said that her story was “blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.” Therefore, if you have the assurance that Jesus is in your heart, just with that alone you have a story to tell. I pray you will share it with others.
God’s word for today: (Psalm 89:1) “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.”
