SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/13/2025 9:28 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “Mark, The Unfaithful Restored”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Tim. 4:11b
Message of the verses: “pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.”
As I think about John Mark I remember that he had deserted Paul on their first missionary journey. “13 Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem” (Acts 13:13). Now as Paul is about to die for the cause of Christ he desires to have Timothy to bring Mark with him because “he is useful to me.” I think of Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Warren Wiersbe quoted from an old Scottish Pastor something that I really like: “The successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings.” That saying reminds me of Romans 8:18, and that reminds me of John Mark.
John MacArthur writes “We do not know where Mark was at this time, but it seems evident that he lived somewhere on the route Timothy would take from Ephesus to Rome. He probably would have traveled by land to Troas (see v. 13) and from there taken a ship to Macedonia. After crossing Macedonia, he may have taken another ship to Brundisium on Italy’s east coast and continue on to Rome.”
In his next paragraph MacArthur writes about many of the things that I have already written in my first paragraph, things that we need to know when we think about John Mark. One of the things that also needs to be mentioned is that on the second missionary journey Barnabas wanted to take Mark along, but Paul did not because of what he did on the first missionary journey and so Barnabas to Mark, and Paul took Silas, and if memory serves me that is the last time we hear about Barnabas in the Scriptures. So what we see is that Barnabas was in favor of giving Mark another chance, but Paul was not.
MacArthur goes on to write: “We do not know if Mark changed before or during his ministry with Barnabas, his older cousin (Col. 4:10). From all New Testament accounts, Barnabas fully lived up to his name, which means ‘Son of Encouragement’ (Acts. 4:36) and probably was a descriptive and loving appellation given to him by the church. Whenever and however the change in Mark occurred, Barnabas must have been involved. By the time of Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome—perhaps twenty years after the two had parted company—this young man had proved himself not only to Barnabas but also to Paul. During that incarceration, the apostle asked the church at Colossae to welcome the now-faithful Mark if he visited them (Col. 4:10) and counted him among his devoted ‘fellow worker’ (Philem. 24).
“Mark also spent time with Peter (1 Peter 513), from whom he may have received insight into the revelation he records in his gospel. In many ways and to many people, he had become a faithful and valued leader in the early church, and Paul asked Timothy to bring him [Mark} with you, for he is useful to me for service.
“It is a great disappointment to see gifted servants of the Lord become disinterested in His work and shirk the demands and hardships of ministry. But it is a great satisfaction to see such a person turn from his fears and selfish pursuits and wholeheartedly return to the work of the kingdom.”
Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today: I have to lean on that saying that Dr. Wiersbe writes in his commentaries that I mentioned earlier in this SD. “The successful Christian life is a series of New Beginnings.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Live a life that is pleasing to the Lord in all things.
8/13/2025 10:04 AM
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