Whatever It Takes

Near the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, He was surrounded by a large group of people in a private dwelling in Capernaum, near the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was teaching these people and they were eagerly listening.

Four friends brought a crippled man, carried on a stretcher-like bed, to this house. They were hoping that Jesus would heal their friend. But, when they arrived, there was a problem - they couldn't get inside the house where Jesus was teaching.

Not dismayed, they did whatever it took to get to Jesus. In this case it was going to the top of the flat-roofed house, removing a sufficient number of the roof tiles, and using four ropes let their invalid friend down into the very presence of Jesus.

Jesus was impressed with their faith.

He forgave the man of his sins and healed him on the spot.

Here are a couple of thoughts.

The four friends showed their faith. Their faith was important enough to them that it caused them to act. Our "faith" is worthless if it does not cause us to act. Faith in Christ obeys Christ.

The four friends did whatever it took to get to Jesus. It was bound to require considerable effort to get the crippled man up on the roof, create a hole of sufficient size for him to fit through it, and then to lower him to ground level without dropping or spilling him. These obstacles did not hinder the four friends. They did what needed to be done. We have such easy access to Jesus today. The Bible is so readily available. We are not politically persecuted if we serve Him in the U.S. If our lives are not wholly given to Christianity, these four friends should give us pause and cause us shame.

Let us do whatever it takes, be it easy or hard, to live The Christian Life.

These thoughts have been taken from Matthew 9, Mark 2, and Luke 5.