Photo by Ben White
By Mike Chaffin
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15
In a will there are gifts, bequeaths, commands and, sometimes, advice. Famous last words from someone who hopefully cared for the surviving friends and family.
Our verse has Jesus’ closing words to his disciples and followers right before he ascends into Heaven. He gives this as a command, and not a request. However, he also gives us a gift to help fulfill this mission. The gift is the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts that come with abiding in the Spirit. Jesus also gave us an inheritance. For those who accept Him as Savior and follow his commands, Heaven is ours.
Earlier in this series of most searched verses Jesus said,
If you love me, keep my commands. John 14:15 (#50 on the list)
Although the Bible is sixty-six books, written by various men over thousands of years, the message is seamless. In every book it points to Jesus. It tells us obedience is job one in our life in Christ.
What Jesus’ command here means is just what is says. To some it will mean a missionary journey. To others it will be to teach their children to follow God. For everyone, it is to shine our light so others will see God and glorify the Father.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to always reflect your glory to others. Help me to spread the Gospel to everyone willing to listen and even to those who aren’t, in an attitude of love, and desire to fill your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.
* There is a website that conducted a search for Bible verses. They compiled a list of the verses in order of the magnitude of hits they got in their search. Some of these verses qualify as ‘people’s favorites’, while others might be on the list because they are some of the most important and most teachable words of God.
