Happy Sabbath!
Today's reading is Mark 2. There were several really neat things recorded here, and it was hard to choose just one thought to write about! I really liked when Jesus said that it was not the well who needed a doctor, but the sick. That reminds me that I do not need to be perfect before I can come to Jesus--He already KNOWS I am far from perfect. It's not the becoming "perfect" and coming to Jesus that is important--it's the coming to Jesus part. He takes care of the rest! The verse I chose for today is sort of related to this thought. People were crowding around Jesus. The sick were being healed, people's spiritual lives were being fed. But the crowds prevented some from coming to Jesus like they would have liked to come. They just physically could not get close enough to Him......
Scripture:
Mark 2:3&4 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.
Observation:
These men were prevented from bringing their paralyzed friend to Jesus. There were just too many people. The crowds were too large. Nobody was going to move out of the way and let them through. It was just too hard. They might as well forget the whole idea and go home. But they didn't. And their lives--and indeed all of history even--was changed as a result of it.
Application:
I love this story! I love that Jesus healed the man, and I love that the friends didn't give up in bringing him to Jesus. We do not know who it was that said to keep going--was the paralyzed man encouraging his friends to not give up, to find a way? Or it could have been the other way around--with the sick man being discouraged and his friends saying "Don't give up!" However it was, it is a beautiful story and has a beautiful ending. Jesus healed him. And Jesus will heal me. No matter how black my sin is, Jesus has promised to make it white as snow. But I have to come to Jesus. What are the "crowds" in my way, preventing me from reaching Him? Getting up too late in the morning to spend some quiet time with Him? Perhaps small children that are up before me, thus making it difficult to open my heart to God without constant interruptions? Whatever it is, I believe there is a way around that problem. And Jesus will help us find it if we don't give up. Even if that way is through the roof.
Prayer:
Dear Father--Help me to not give up, even when so many things crowd me away from You. Show me how to make a hole in the roof, so I may spend time with You.
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