09/07/2019
To what ends will your faith take you as you seek the presence of Jesus? Are you so confident in Him that there is nothing more pressing than to be at His feet? Does His love for you drive you to a great, and possibly heroic faith?
“And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."”
Mark 2:4-5 ESV
There is a saying that goes like this... “The juice ain’t worth the squeeze.”, and it means that the effort it takes to get something isn’t worth the reward of attaining it. In the case of the paralytic man in our scripture reading, there was no end to which those carrying him wouldn’t go to place him before Jesus. The faith that Jesus recognized wasn’t the faith of the paralyzed man... it was the faith of those who were lowering him down, of those prepared to go to extraordinary lengths for this crippled man because they knew that Jesus would heal him. I ask myself two questions when I read this. The first is... who do I love enough to go to such lengths for, and the second is... is my faith strong enough that I would risk my life for such love and faith?
Love is a powerful motivator, it makes people do the dumbest things, but it can also ignite the most heroic actions in us; sometimes for friends or family, but at other times for total strangers. Have you ever wondered how far you would go to be in the presence of Jesus, or what sacrifice you would be willing to make for another to place them at His feet?
Not too many years ago a man in New York City was trapped in a burning car, and from the crowd came a mysterious priest who drug him from the car, made certain he was alright, and then disappeared back into the crowd from whence he had come. No one knew this priest’s name, and the press began referring to him as an Angel. Eventually he came forward as just an ordinary priest who loved his fellow man enough to risk his own life for him. He was living out his faith by honoring scripture many of us just read. The second great commandment had proven to be alive in Him.
“And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:39 ESV
I followed this story as it unfolded, and throughout it I wondered to myself which of these men I was... was I the man in the burning car, the priest who loved a stranger unconditionally, or just one of those standing idle in the crowd... horrified, and yet unwilling to risk myself? If I was not the man in the car, would I have found the juice of love and faith worth the squeeze that day? The answer to this question of love actually defines our faith. How far are we willing to go to be like Jesus, and to be in His presence? Are we obedient, or just knowledgeable?
Sometimes however, we are the one lowered through the roof, or pulled from the burning car, but in both of these cases we don’t know what happened to these men after experiencing their miracle. Once healed or saved, what did they do with their lives then? Did they become a person of great faith who loved others as they were loved, or did they just walk back into the crowd of onlookers and retake their place as spectators there? How would you live your life after such an amazing occurrence? How would you view the gift of faithful juice you were offered in relation to the effort of the squeeze you would need to expend as you lived out that faith?
Each of us must answer these questions at some point, maybe not by lowering, or being lowered through a roof, or by pulling or being pulled from a burning car... but in some fashion we will need to determine if the miraculous gift of God’s grace and the sacrifice Jesus has made for our salvation presents us with an effort in faith that is worth the love we have received. We must determine for ourselves just how far we are willing to go to be in the presence of Jesus.
Are we ready to obey the scriptural call to love one another, or to just continue reading it? Are we ready to tear the roof off of a house to save another man’s soul, or just stand in the crowd hoping upon hope that a hero will step forward to rescue him? We all like to think that we would step forward and pull a stranger from a burning car, but do we love each other that much? Are we secure enough in our faith to risk ourselves for a stranger who is lost? Is stepping into the presence of God, and Jesus Christ, valuable enough to us that the various squeezes of life are worth the effort of our faith? These are the questions we must answer, and the moments of spiritual trial we must face.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the love you have shown me, and the taste of it you have placed within me. Grow the love I contain Holy Father, and teach me to extend it to all those around me. Help me to see that saving the lost soul of another is worth all the squeeze I can muster, and that being in your presence is worth risking my very life for, because no one, nor anything can take me from your hand... not even death. Use the love within me Lord to reach out to those who feel unloved, and give me the gift that only my own self-sacrifice can bring. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who loved me while I was yet a sinner, and whose love for me inspires the fullness of love in my life. Praised be your name Father for showing me that love is not stale, or empty, but active, and heroic in its application. Glorious are you my God, not in the mighty things you do, but in the love that compels you to do them. I worship you, and seek to embody not only your love, but the application of it as I seek to emulate Jesus. Great are you my God, and your Son Jesus in whose presence I stand. Great is your love that abides in me now, and forevermore.
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.”
1 John 4:16-17 ESV
Rich Forbes