"Immediately, many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door, And He preached the word to them." v2 Mark 2:1-12 NKJV
Jesus drew crowds wherever He went. Here, He was at home and the house was so crowded that people couldn't even get in the door. What is it that drew the crowds to Him? Well, quite simply, they had a need. Some needed healing, some encouragement, many needed loving attention and comfort. But there were others there that had a need - the scribes with their Pharisaical hearts. They had a need. They needed to know about this guy who claimed to be the Son of God. They needed to know who it was who had the audacity to heal someone on the Sabbath, and what was He doing healing people in the first place? Only God could do this. They thought it was unnatural to act in such a way. They were right, because it was supernatural what they had witnessed.
Jesus drew crowds, do you? Do people gather around you because you have something different, because they have a need? If you have made a commitment to Jesus, He is right there with you. People notice this, but perhaps you don't. When people want to spend time with you, you may shrug them off because of embarrassment or because of busy-ness. But, because Jesus lives within you, they feel the need to speak with you. In a way, because of Jesus, we are like magnets; people are drawn to us. You may be in the supermarket or on a bus and all of sudden, someone may start speaking with you and before you know it, they have unloaded a lot of their problems. Don't be surprised if this happens. Jesus draws crowds.
Of course, because of the fact that Jesus lives in you, you may draw bad crowds. We've probably all come up against the person who, no matter what is said about Jesus, they will argue with you. 'What about the starving people in the world, what about cancer and abuse?' You will always have this wherever you go. The fact of the matter is, we have no answers to this so, it is futile trying to defend Jesus, he doesn't need or want it. They probably will not believe you even if you came up with the best answer possible. So stay away from that.
Then of course, there are the persecutions. People may pick us up if we make a stand about a particular thing that conflicts with our faith. They may make a big protest about us. But, if we mention the fact they we are being persecuted for our faith, it goes unanswered or better still, ignored. There is a lot of injustice int this world. But, Jesus draws crowds.
However, our job is to allow the crowds to be drawn to Jesus. In a way, we don't have to do anything to make this happen, except to be available to Jesus. When we are in this position, the Holy Spirit will guide and direct us, He will also draw people to us. Don't ignore them because of embarrassment or because you are busy. Allow God to use you. After all, Jesus draws crowds.
Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard
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