Have you ever been somewhere so wonderful that you never wanted to leave? That’s how the man in Mark chapter 5 felt after Jesus healed him from a life of insanity. He wanted to travel with Jesus, listen to His teachings, witness His miracles, and enjoy His company. But Jesus told him to go home and tell His family what God had done for him. God doesn’t want you to live remote and distant from the rest of the world! The only way to keep what you have is to give it away. After a spiritual mountaintop experience, you must take what you’ve received and share it with those in the valley.

The man in today’s reading had spent years living in a graveyard. He was cutting himself and raving incoherently. Now the crowd saw him ‘sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.’ (Luke 8:35 ^NKJV) And that’s still how it works. First Jesus clothes you, then He calls you. When you come to Him, you’re spiritually naked, so He wraps you in His righteousness.

Paul says, ‘Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!’ (2 Corinthians 5:17 ^BSB) Whereas you were once ‘in Adam’ where all die, now you’re ‘in Christ’ where all are made alive spiritually (see 1 Corinthians 15:22). Hymnist Edwin Mote wrote: ‘Clothed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.’ But never forget that once you’re ‘clothed and in your right mind’, it’s your God-given mandate to go out and tell others what the Lord has done for you.