“Cease listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray away from the words of knowledge.” Pr. 19:27
In Mark 1:16-20, Jesus told Simon and Andrew to follow Him. He also called to James and John, sons of Zebedee, who left their father and went after Jesus. How convincing must Jesus have sounded to these men? Seriously. They were at work, doing their jobs, making money, and this stranger speaks to them and they just leave it all and follow him. That’s out of the ordinary.
After they went into Capernaum, Jesus taught in the temple and spoke “as one having authority.” A man with an unclean spirit then approached Him, and Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” The spirit came out of the man.
They left the synagogue and went to Simon’s house. His mother was sick, so Jesus took her by the hand, lifted her up and her fever immediately left her. That night, the whole city was gathered together at the door of Simon’s house, where Jesus healed their diseases and cast out demons. He wouldn’t allow the demons to speak.
A leper later came to Jesus to see if He was willing to heal him. As soon as Jesus spoke the words, “I am willing; be cleansed,” the leprosy left the man.
Have you seen the same pattern I’m seeing? Jesus’ authority is undeniable. He spoke to strangers, and they gave up everything for Him. He spoke to demons and they obeyed. He spoke to sickness and it left.
What is He speaking to You right now? Another pattern I’ve noticed is that we tend to try to resist the Lord’s instructions to us. When the Holy Spirit prompts us to do something we hesitate, we debate, we put it off. We’re afraid to obey for various reasons. Why?
Have we given something or someone else more authority in our lives? Jesus’ authority is undeniable in Mark. He still has the same authority today. He does not change. The only thing that changes is us. We stray.
How sad that even the demons obeyed Jesus, and yet we try to ignore or debate with Him.
When the Lord speaks to You, listen. He has the power to make things happen. All He needs us to do is be willing to be part of His plan. When we obey the Lord, the outcome is up to Him. Don’t put Him off any longer.
In fact, may I be so bold to say, let’s be better than the demons, and ask Him in advance to speak to us. And when He does, let’s simply obey.
Listening for instruction,
jamie
considering the word 