November 7, 2025
We don’t know how it started. Maybe she made one wrong friend and that led her to another then another. Perhaps she dated one wrong guy in school and that set her on the path of trouble.
Somewhere something went terribly wrong. Before she knew it, she was in crisis.
That can happen to anybody. One step away from God can lead us to languishing in LoDebar or miserable in Moab.
We don't know how she grew up. Did she have a mom and dad? Had she mostly raised herself? We can guess that she had suffered for years. Regret, hopelessness, and despair would have kept her tossing and turning every night.
Luke 8:1-3 tells part of the real-life story of Mary Magdalene. We don’t know how it began, or the whole story, just some of it.
Luke drops the profound information that she had been delivered from seven demons and then just goes right on. I want to know more! We don’t have more, but we can imagine. Mary Mag’s life had been hard.
Somehow, somewhere, not only one demon came into Mary Magdalene’s life but seven. I have heard people say drug addiction is like a demon possession. It takes over your being and you can’t get free of it. Ponder seven of those.
While we have no way of knowing her full story, we know what happened after she met Jesus. Really met Jesus. Fell in love with Jesus. She never went back to her old life, that’s for sure. And it makes sense. Jesus had delivered her. Why in tarnation would she leave Him? Wherever Jesus was, that’s where Mary wanted to be.
The same is true for us. Has Jesus got you through some things? Has He saved your bacon? Has He carried you through some hard times - times you didn’t think you would survive? Has He been faithful to you? Yes, yes, yes, yes! Has He ever left you? NO! Then why would we ever leave Him?!
Mary Magdalene fell in love with Jesus. Not the dating, married kind of love. But the life-changing love of a Savior. So, she followed Him.
Luke 8:3 tells us she gave of her own money to support His ministry. We have resources Jesus can use. Are we using our money, time, gifts, and talents to point people to Him?
After His resurrection, Jesus gave Mary Magdalene a mission: Go and tell the others (John 20:17). She obeyed. Because she loved Him.
When we fall in love with Jesus…
The last one comes from Mark 12:30: “Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
As the weather turns cooler and leaves begin to change, let’s FALL IN LOVE WITH JESUS every single day!
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Dawn Reed is a pastor's wife, newspaper columnist, and the author of Weiner Stew: Inspiring Stories from Appalachia. Reach her at preacherswife7@yahoo.com.
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