To Encourage You

Mark 16:15 “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

In thinking about the above verse the other day, a thought came to me that I’d not considered before. The primary intent of this command from Jesus, a command that has come to be known as “The Great Commission,” is to share the gospel around the world.  However, another way we can think about this verse is to realize that “the whole creation” includes ourselves. In other words, often it is necessary, particularly in times of trial or temptation, to speak to ourselves with the Word of God.  We should preach to ourselves, if you will.  

This idea is reiterated in other Scriptures, such as the following: “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).  Do you hear that? As thoughts enter our minds that raise themselves against the knowledge of God, i.e., the things He has told us in His Word, as they seek to supplant His Truth in our thinking, we are to bring those thoughts into captivity by thoughts of obedience to the Truth of Christ and His words to us.  An example of this is found in Psalm 42:11 where the psalmist asks himself “Why are you cast down O my soul and why are you in turmoil within me?”  He is in a wrestling match with his thought life. He is being tempted to despair by some circumstance he is facing in life. But then he comes to his senses and preaches to himself with these words: “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”  Rather than continuing to mull over his thoughts of despair, he supplants those thoughts with the truth of God’s Word, the Truth that God is a God of Hope. God is his Savior, and he will trust Him no matter what. 

Another example is found in Psalm 73, where the psalmist Asaph finds himself tempted to doubt God’s promises. He looks around him and sees the wicked prospering. They seem to be much better off than he is.  Because of this, he confesses, “my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”  But then he comes to himself as he preaches the following truth of God’s Word to himself: “But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.  Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.”  

May God help us, likewise, to tell of all His works.  As we obey Jesus’ command to preach the gospel to the whole creation, may we remember to include in that creation our own selves.