FAITHFULNESS TO NOT GIVE UP
Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, but they couldn’t reach Him because of the crowd. So, they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”
Luke 5:18-20 (NLT)
In the Bible, there are 40 stories of Jesus healing someone. What I find interesting is that 34 of these stories happen when friends bring their friends to Jesus. Only in 6 does Jesus find them, or they go themselves. In the passage above, some people are desperate for their friend to encounter the healing touch of Jesus. However, they have a problem—they can’t get to Him, there are too many people crowding Jesus. But in their faithfulness, they do something radical. They cut a hole in the roof and lowered their friend to Jesus to be healed. Jesus heals this man because of the faith of his friends.
There is nothing more important than someone experiencing the healing touch of Jesus. Spiritually, we are surrounded by people who probably won’t reach Jesus unless we bring them. Rest assured, the moment we try to get them to Jesus, we’ll likely have a few obstacles. We might run into resistance from them, some awkward conversations, and some might not like our methods. All I know is that there will likely be resistance. Don’t be surprised by this. We should expect this. Most importantly, we shouldn’t give up.
This man wouldn’t have been healed if his friends had given up. Some of our friends will be spiritually healed, meaning they will come to faith in Jesus if we remain faithful. This story reminds us that we’re called to be faithful to get our friends and family to the feet of Jesus. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to think about trying to impact the world. Our job isn’t necessarily to impact the entire world. Instead, it’s to impact our world. God has placed us in communities, in our jobs, in our schools, and our neighborhoods. We're God’s plan to reach those around us. Think about that. God has placed us in a very specific place at this time in history. We must be faithful to look for God’s opportunities daily.
APPLICATION: No matter what resistance you face, be faithful to bring others to Jesus today.
PRAYER: Spend time praying for specific people today. Ask God to allow you to tell them about Jesus. Ask Him for the courage to remain steadfast in the face of resistance.