There is a story in the bible about a man who has been paralyzed for many years. He has a group of four, loving, caring and faithful friends who care so much about him that they take him to Jesus in hopes that he might be healed. When Jesus sees the faith that this group of friends has, He says, “Your sins are forgiven; rise, stand up and walk” and the paralyzed man walks forward. You can read the full story in Mark 2:1-12 and it goes on to say that everyone who was there to witness what happened could barely believe their eyes!
I think there are three things we can look at from this story:
First, because these four friends had so much faith, they brought their friend to Jesus so that he could hear the words of life, so that he could hear, “You’re forgiven, rise, pick up your bed and walk.” They put their friend in a position to hear those words of life, to hear those words of hope. You are forgiven, you can go forward. When you put yourself in the right place to hear God speak and open your heart to what God has to say, you can be led in an exciting, new way.
Second, I have to be clear and tell you that I don’t believe God inflicts us with disease because of some sin we committed or some sin our parents committed. I do not believe that. I do believe that in order for us to be healed, to be healthy and whole, we need to know forgiveness of sin, we need to be able to let go of the past. Go forward and let the past go. You know what it means to be forgiven, to experience God’s grace and you go forward in life.
And third, sometimes the greatest act of faith is to not quit. When the four friends arrived, they saw a huge crowd around the building where Jesus was. Instead of giving up, they climbed up on the roof and dropped their friend down, right in front of Jesus. They didn’t quit. They were willing to push on through the crowd, climb up on the roof, dig through and drop their friend down. It’s the whole idea that because they had such faith, they wouldn’t quit; they persisted on. Sometimes the greatest act of faith is not to quit! Sometimes you get knocked down and sometimes you make mistakes. If you and I will persevere and have faith, we will hear God speak, “your sins are forgiven, rise up and walk.”
