A new beginning ……..

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Greetings to you in the mighty name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you all bountifully in the new month.

Life has its own twists and turns. Many a times it looks like a meandering river. You never know what is ahead at the end of the turn of the road. We feel that something has come to an end, but suddenly it sprouts up and is offered on a golden spoon. Our God is the Lord of hosts. Our God is an awesome God. He is not only the Conductor of events but is also the Controller  of events.

As  we read the Book of Jonah, Chapter one, the beginning of verse two and three, we come across  interesting verses : “But Jonah”  and  next verse “But God”. The former is relating to the escapade of the Prophet far away to Tarshish. The later is  God’s response stopping him through a disaster. Chapter three of this Book starts as : “ Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah for the second time “. The renewed call to the preacher was after the “fish” episode. God always wants to accomplish a certain task only through His designated person, even though He is mighty enough to do the same even without uttering a word…..Our Lord is always a God of second chances. When we fail to achieve a certain task given by God, end up dejected as a failed warrior, God always renews our strength like that of an eagle and becomes the Victor.

While meditating on my routine Bible reading, I came upon a person called “Mark” whose sur name was ‘John”.  His name appears along with Apostle Peter  and Paul. Mark was the son of Mary, who was the sister of Barnabas, a missionary himself. We come to know about the family in Acts 12:12 when Peter is miraculously released from the prison, and goes to the house of one “Mary” where a group of people are fervently praying for his release.

When Paul and Barnabas return from Jerusalem, they took Mark also with them (Acts 12:25). Mark accompanies them in their further missions as a faithful helper ( Acts 13:5). But the Lord’s ministry is very challenging. Especially when you are with a veteran like Apostle Paul ! This boy could not withstand the travails of long travels, mostly by foot, lack of sleep and rest, mostly facing a hostile crowd to whom they proclaim the Gospel and an ever oppressive Roman Government bent upon   punishing anyone even  appearing to be against  them ! This poor boy (Mark) could not sustain. Abandoning Paul and Barnabas, he retuned back to the comfort of his mother and home at Jerusalem. Yes, it happens to many of us in our every day life more so in our spiritual life. We think that the world has crashed on us when fail in our studies, in our work life or in challenges faced at Home or when we could not do things for God as we desire. Some even choose to end their life due to the stress, defeating the very purpose of their creation by God.

But a strong man who studied under the  great scholar like Gamaliel  would not take it down easily. For him, it was betrayal and cowardice as it appeared so. There is a heated argument between Paul and Barnabas, the later insisting to take Mark along with them in their next mission but Paul vetoing it. Because of this, Paul and Barnabas parted ways (Acts 15:37-40). Barnabas left for Cyprus with Mark. Paul left with Silas. Whether Barnabas  was able to mend the ways of Mark , we do not know.

But as I said, our God is an awesome God. Next time, we hear about Mark is in First Peter 5:2 , where the Apostle refers to him as “my son”. An incredible transformation ! It is recorded in history that our Mark was the interpreter for Peter and learnt everything about the ministry of our dear Lord Jesus. Who will fail to get transformed after knowing well our Lord Jesus ?   

About a decade later, Paul is in house arrest (his first imprisonment) at Rome. Here he wrote what are known as the famous “prison epistles”. At least in two of them, we hear again about our Mark.

To quote Paul himself :

“Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark….and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my fellow workers for the kingdom of God…they have proved to be comfort to me “  (Colossians 4:10-11)

“Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus greets you as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke my fellow labourers”

(Philemon v.23,24)

See the transformation and acknowledgement ….

Few years later, Paul is in his second and final imprisonment at Rome awaiting his death as a martyr. Even some of his close associates leave  him. Paul realizes that he is at the fag end of his missionary journey. Still he longs for good association, and can you imagine whose company he sought in these most challenging times ?

“ Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful for ministry”.

( II Timothy 4:11)

This is the same Paul, who wrote off him as a missionary earlier ! By the abundant grace of God, the same Mark has been transformed into a trustworthy minister of God.

As an ending note, I wish to submit that this runaway minister, wrote the “Gospel according to Mark” one of the four Gospels, which we read everyday.

“This is the word of the Lord  to Zerubbabel :  Not by might nor power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Prayer : Dear Lord Jesus,

We thank you for your continuing grace in our lives. We seek and believe  the God who transformed the life of Mark would reform our lives too  and lead us in His ways. Make us fertile , yielding good fruits in Your kingdom.

Make everything happen in our lives, as You desire.

In Jesus name we pray,

Amen.

God’s Love Missions Family.