Mark 16

A few days ago, I read Mark 16 for my morning Bible reading. I came across a few verses that I had highlighted in that chapter and I got to thinking about how my attitude has changed toward a couple of the verses.

My favorite verse in this chapter used to be Mark 16:17-18 that says These signs will accompany those who believe. They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick and heal them.

This used to be my favorite because it made me so excited to think of what I could do because of what God has done for me. I thought of what I could do because I am a child of God. It was all in my mind what I got to do as a Christian so that other's would know that I was a Christian.

Now I do believe that people that see miracles like this will be lead to Christ and that they are good tools, but it is no longer what I am excited about. What I am now excited about is verse 15 in this chapter that says "And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere" and later we see that the disciples followed this decree in verse 20 "And the Disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked with them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs."

One thing I just saw that I had never seen before here is that the disciples FIRST went everywhere and preached, and THEN the Lord worked with them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs. What a privilege we have to be able to teach others about the Good News of Jesus Christ. He could have told us all that he would send His angels to teach and proclaim the Gospel perhaps telling us that we, in our ignorance, would not teach it to people correctly and could even turn other people away from God by our words and actions. Praise God that I can tell others about Him.