I thought of the verse I read today, about the friends who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus. And Jesus seeing their faith, forgave the sins of the paralyzed man. I noted that Jesus didn’t heal him, but forgave his sins.(Mark2:5) The man was paralyzed by sin.
Thinking about it now as I write this, I guess I have to stop giving up on people. Stop looking at them as unredeemable, unhealable, unfixable. Cosigning with the world that they are trash. This man’s friends brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus, because they had faith that He could heal him. It's not that I look at my friends as such; not at all. It's these ones that we label as trash, the ones who love wading in the dumpsters and end up getting labelled as such. I think within this verse, dare-I-say, ought I not to bring them also to the feet of Jesus? It's not that I have to be friends with the people I intercede for; but the actions of this man's friends... I'm still marvelling at it. They believed so fiercely that they were willing to go through the roof to get to Jesus for their friend to receive healing.
Our sin separates us from God. Jesus didn’t endure the crucifixion because Heaven got tedious. That blood shed is strong enough to reach even the most foul of the trash we despise. And I know this, yet it’s still frustrating to exist with such people. But that’s arrogant, as though once upon a time my actions weren’t foul before the Lord. Anyway, what I am getting at is that from this verse, I am reminded by God that my faith can bring a person’s deliverance. My persistence, focus and trust in God and His power can change someone’s life. The friends went above and beyond, to the tune of coming through the roof to reach Jesus. It may not be everyone that I have to go through the roof for, but I can persevere in the spirit, with hope that when Jesus sees my faith, he’ll be moved to bring deliverance.
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