Luke 5:17-20 — And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.
This story hit me in a completely different way recently. I started thinking about those who brought this man to Jesus. They carried a man on his bed through town, climbed to the top of a roof, and lowered him down to Jesus. They were committed to making sure that this man could see Jesus! Oh that I had this kind of commitment every day. To know that seeing Jesus is so important I would do anything to get someone to Him.
Many times we come up with excuses not to reach out to those who are lost. But we need to remember what God has said to us:
- We were called out of darkness: 1 Peter 2:6-10
- We are called to share the gospel: Matthew 28:18-20
- His grace is sufficient in our weakness: 2 Corinthians 12:8-10
- We can do everything with Him: Philippians 4:13
It’s so easy to say that we care about the lost…but unless we are actively sharing God’s word and making it an important part of our lives to show others Jesus – do we really care?