One extra hour in our day changes the temperature on average from 30, 40, 50 degrees to 80, 90,100 degrees. The difference from winter to summer is like the difference when Christ is in our life. Give God an hour and He will provide the power to warm your heart every day with a brighter future.
In our previous post, we noted that Jesus had driven out impure spirits, He had healed many in Capernaum, and He had gone to a solitary place to pray. A few days later as we read now in Mark 2:1-12, He came back into Capernaum to teach and the people gathered in such large numbers that there was no more room (v. 2).
Four men brought a paralytic man to Jesus because they had faith that Jesus could heal their friend. They couldn’t get the paralyzed man to Jesus because of the crowd so they made an opening in the roof and lowered him down on his mat in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (v. 5). The scribes were thinking to themselves that Jesus didn’t have authority to forgive sins and said Jesus was blaspheming! They were right that only God can forgive sin but wrong in thinking Jesus was not God in the flesh.
So the take away from today’s passage is that the first concern Jesus had was to forgive his sins. Once sins are forgiven in an individual, there is power for amazing results. We may not feel good at times, we may feel lonely, we may feel inferior or just physically worn out but these are the things that create resistance and ultimately make us stronger; the resistance like lifting a weights to build muscle.
The resistance of water as we swim laps to burn those extra calories or the hill as we run to the top. Without resistance, the wings of a plane can’t produce lift and fly through the air. Without resistance to fear, there is no courage. Next time our day is filled with some resistance, let us smile at it, say thank You God, and know that God is big enough. Let us give Him an hour and have faith that He will provide the power to keep going.
Lord this day, we have been inspired by the passage. Like the four men that made a way for the paralyzed man to come in front of You, provide in us the compassion and determination to help a co-worker, neighbor, or friend to come before You. The results just might be just as amazing as in today’s passage. Amen.
This Day With God - A Spiritual Journey 