Day 3: Go home and tell
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with Him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “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 5:18-19)
Lord, we give thanks to You—You are good; Your love endures forever (Psalm 107:1). When You touch our lives, we cannot keep the story of Your love, grace, and mercy to ourselves. We want to do as the psalmist says:
Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—those He redeemed from the hand of the foe, those He gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south (Psalm 107:2-3).
That is what the Lord Jesus asked this man to do after He had healed him. He gave him a mission to go home and tell.
You give us this mission as part of Your design to spread hope and salvation through relational testimony—from family and the most intimate circles—and reaching outwards.
You have shown us that preserving and protecting families is central to Your plan to bring salvation to the world. Joshua understood that the choice to serve the Lord was important for both him and his family (Joshua 24:15). The prophet Malachi explained that You desire to keep families intact so they can produce godly offspring (Malachi 2:15). And Paul and Silas assured the Philippian jailer that the promise of salvation was for him and his household (Acts 16:31).
Relational spreading of the good news of Your kingdom was also an important part of the ministry of the Lord Jesus. From the call of the first disciples, the circle of followers expanded through family and friends:
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who... had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus (John 1:40-42).
Similarly, we read the account of the brothers James and John (Matthew 4:21), and of Philp and Nathanael: Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph” (John 1:45).
Father, Scripture tells us that God our Savior... wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4). To this end, Jesus promised His followers, "You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The Great Commission, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation" (Mark 16:15) starts with a call to go home and tell. Because You desire that family and friends be saved and remain unseparated—together with You and with each other for eternity.
You desire to bless us, and to bless others through us. So we pray Your multiplied blessings expanding through our circle and through our world: May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine on us—so that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations (Psalm 67:1-2).
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