Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Get A Friend That Takes You To Jesus

By: Jenifer Metzger

When He entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported
that He was at home. So many people gathered together that there was
no more room, not even in the doorway, and He was speaking the word
to them. They came to Him bringing a paralytic, carried by four of them.
Since they were not able to bring Him to Jesus because of the crowd, they
removed the roof above Him, and after digging through it, they lowered
the mat on which the paralytic was lying. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the
paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the scribes were
sitting there, questioning in their hearts: “Why does He speak like this?
He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Right away Jesus
perceived in His spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves
and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which
is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up,
take your mat, and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He told the paralytic— “I tell you:
get up, take your mat, and go home.” Immediately he got up, took the mat,
and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and
gave glory to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Mark 2:1-12

There is so much to glean from this story in Mark. We see how this man was forgiven of his sins, how he was healed, how the scribes and pharisees doubted Jesus, and how Jesus was teaching and working miracles. But for today, let's take a different approach and look at the friends.

We don't know too much about the crippled man. How old was he? Was he crippled his entire life? Did he even want to go see Jesus? But when we look at his friends, we see men on a mission.


They obviously didn't catch an uber or train to get to Jesus, they walked and it is likely their journey was long. They weren't pushing a wheelchair, they were carrying their crippled friend. Then, they get to their destination but it is too full. They could easily have waited outside or just left. No, they take drastic measures and carry their crippled friend on top of the roof, dug through it, and lowered their friend right at the feet of Jesus.

We need friends that take us to the feet of Jesus. When you are struggling, suffering, or hurting, it is not enough for your friend to just be there. You need a friend who will carry you to Jesus. Who will pray for you and over you. Who will bring you back to the Word of God. Who will speak life into your situation. Who will speak truth, even when you don't want to hear it. We all need someone who will be a friend like the crippled man had. But in turn, we all need to be that friend.

If you have a friend like this, know the blessing it is and praise God for your friend who takes you to Jesus. If you don't, it is time to pray and ask God to lead you to a friend.





It's time for Share A Link Wednesday! Each Wednesday we invite you to leave a link to your latest blog post in the comments. We still desire to connect women of God with one another and encourage each other in Christ. So grab a cup of coffee or glass of sweet tea, sit back and visit a few blogs. Be encouraged and share your own stories.






4 comments:

  1. This is one of my favorite lessons to teach... Maybe because of that moment when the 4 guys look at each other and decide to tear a hole in the roof! (PTSD from raising 4 sons 😁)
    This week, I am reviewing Scott Sauls's new book and imagining a world of gentle answers:
    https://michelemorin.net/2020/09/09/how-engage-faithfully-fractured-world/

    ReplyDelete
  2. The pastor's wife at one of our former churches was known for not pulling any punches if you talked to her about a problem. She was not unkind, but she laid things out straight. But I knew I really meant business if I went to her with a problem. How we need to be that kind of friend. It's so easy to spout off our "wisdom" or life experience, or just try to make others feel better. But only He can really help them.

    I wrote this week about how easily we fall into our routines and forget they should be about growing our relationship with God: https://barbaraleeharper.com/2020/09/06/remembering-the-relationship/.

    ReplyDelete
  3. YESSSSS! Jenifer! :) We all need a friend who will carry us to Jesus, AND we need to be a friend who carries friends to Jesus.

    We're looking at "Endure" in our ABCs of God's Love Letter study over on the blog this week. :)

    https://www.instaencouragements.com/blog/the-abcs-of-gods-love-letter-endure

    ReplyDelete
  4. We especially need friends like this in these days we are living. And may we BE that friend as well!

    http://www.joanneviola.com/2020/09/start-finish-lines/

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by, we love hearing from you. Please feel free to contact us with any prayer requests or questions by commenting below or emailing us at the About Us page.