It has been a bit of a wonky day, Father. But as I sit down with You tonight may my mind be on You. Everything else is behind me and only You are before me. Amen.
Luke 5:17-26 (<<click to read the passage)
Faith. It is a foundational aspect of our relationship with Jesus. We must have faith, believing that what He says He will do. Our faith in Him brings about our salvation. But as is made evident in today’s passage, our faith not only impacts us but others as well!
Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” vs.18-20 NLT
My Life Application Study Bible remarks, “It wasn’t the paralyzed man’s faith that impressed Jesus but the faith of his friends. Jesus responded to their faith and healed the man.”
Friend, if you are a believer in Jesus and have sought His forgiveness and serve Him with your life then you have a responsibility to use your faith, in a positive way, to affect the lives of others. The scary part is that our faith, if we are not careful, can leave a negative impact on others!
In my lifetime I have known people who claim Jesus as their Savior but the way they lived their lives did not always make that association clear. Anger. Gossip. Jealousy. Double mindedness and many other vices. We may all deal with some of these attributes on occasion but for some, it is a big part of their everyday lives.
In mentioning individuals in churches I served to other believers, I have gotten raised eyebrows because they knew the individual outside the church setting and obviously would never have believed them to be a follower of Christ due to their actions in the workplace or other areas of life. Believers beware! People are watching us whether we like it or not and the faith we proclaim will be known to all for good or ill.
But the friends in this passage clearly made known their faith in Jesus. They didn’t just believe it in their hearts and minds, they put legs on it and were quick to take their friend to find healing at the hands of the One they believed could make a difference in his life.
Lord Jesus, we realize that only You can bring salvation and healing but we, as we exercise our faith, can bring others to You. If we are real and authentic in our relationship with You, that just whets the appetite of others creating a hunger for You, even before they might fully understand for what they are hungering. Help us to overcome our weaknesses. Help us to trust in You to make our faith stronger each day as we follow closely by Your side. Amen.
Jan 20th, 2020, Mon, 7:49 pm
