In The Word
Read: Mark 7:24-37
The Syrophoenician Woman
24 Now Jesus got up and went from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know about it; and yet He could not escape notice. 25 But after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician descent. And she repeatedly asked Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered and *said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” 29 And He said to her, “Because of this answer, go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 And after going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
31 Again He left the region of Tyre and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis. 32 And they *brought to Him one who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they *begged Him to lay His hand on him. 33 And Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers in his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34 and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”35 And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. 36 And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. 37 And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even those who are deaf hear, and those who are unable to talk, speak.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
All over the scriptures, we see stories where Jesus comes into a town or region and the second He hits land, He is surrounded by people. In some situations, the only way Jesus could escape the multitudes was to jump in a boat and travel across the waters. And even then, as soon as He got to the other side, multitudes awaited Him. No matter where Jesus went, crowds of people were drawn to His genuine love and amazing power.
Since our mission as Christians is to be conformed to Christ’s image, shouldn’t people be drawn to us the same way? Shouldn’t our problem be finding time alone versus finding people to follow us? So the question we may ask is, “What must I do to have that same influence?” Well, it’s not as complicated as it seems. In every area of your life, you must have a desire to glorify God, whether it be through your body, home, church, work place, or relationships. When we have this heart to please and glorify God, people will be drawn to the Christ they see in us. So I encourage you today to pursue God’s heart in every area of your life and through that you will gain the influence that God has for you in the lives of people around you.