Mark 2:3-5 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
Pocatello experienced the grand opening of a new restaurant. The owners advertised free chicken wings of a year to the first 100 people through the door. This caused something of a stir in our little town. People camped out for days in advance of the opening to ensure they were in the lucky first 100. Naturally, this caused people to drive by to look at the "campers". It was an advertising gimmick, and an interesting phenomena to observe.
Life here has been a bit busy of late. I took on a project to finish the walls in the garage. Gypsum board, tape, primer, paint were in the mix for me. I should remember to never start vast projects with half vast ideas. But the result is it looks much better. One of two bays is just about done. Paint goes on pretty quick. Then I can work on the boat. The nice part about working on the garage is I have had time to listen to K-Love radio. I think I needed that time to focus, and reflect after the business trip to Seattle. So many bad memories from my previous trips there. It was nice to visit the city and not have a trial or legal proceeding for Andy to attend. All-in-all I give Seattle two thumbs up.
Reflecting on the restaurant opening and the "campers", we just do not see people camping out to enter Church. Honestly, have you ever seen that? People waiting in line for days to enter a church is just not something we see. Yet, the message we have in the bible that is delivered everyday is so much more substantial than what is served at any restaurant. Not many seem to grasp that concept. The temporal view is grasped and the eternal view is missed. But thankfully, the friends of the paralyzed man grasped the importance of Jesus Christ. Mark 2 tells us they made a hole in the roof and lowered the paralyzed man through it because of the crowd. All this so that the paralyzed man could see Jesus. And the greatest gift given by Christ was pronouncing forgiveness upon the paralyzed man. The rest of the story is the man was healed, but more on that in the next devotional. The take away for us is to consider how important Christ is to each of us, and our family, and our friends. Are we strong enough in our faith and commitment to dig a hole in the roof of our lives to see Jesus. Are we committed enough in our worship to take that bold step. And if not, why not? Friends, ponder this, pray over this and let God work on you.
PRAYER: Father, we have built sturdy roofs in our lives that separate us from You. We construct this roof with busy little lives and activities. We seek to fill a void only You can fill with other stuff. Forgives Lord, we know not what we do. Help us to see these roofs for what they really are, a barrier to You O God. This we ask in the strong name of Jesus, Amen.
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