And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, Luke 5:18 (ESV)
During a casual reading of the Bible, this verse would be easy to look past. It appears to be a lead-in to the action. Every single word in God's Book is important, we just have to look a little deeper.
Last night I heard a sermon about the importance of touch. The men in this verse were seeking to lay their friend before Jesus. These men were hoping that Jesus would touch their friend and heal him. They had to be persistent in getting their friend to Jesus because of the crowds in front of the door. They couldn't just squeeze their way through small spaces in the crowd because they were carrying their paralyzed friend on a bed. So, instead of becoming disheartened and giving up, they carried the man to the roof, created a hole in the roof and lowered the man down. Wow! These men cared about their friend so much, they didn't let small things like crowds and roofs get in their way.
But all that happens after this verse. The Words that keep standing out to me are "seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus." Not only do we seek Jesus' presence for ourselves, we seek Jesus' presence for our loved ones; for those who are spiritually paralyzed and cannot get to Jesus on their own. We lay them before Jesus in prayer and carry them to Jesus through love.
Glorious Father in Heaven, You let Your Holy Spirit speak to me through this verse. As I was thinking one thing, my fingers typed another. Thank You, Lord, for this wonderful, powerful insight to show me and my readers Your ways. I praise Your Name! In the Name of Your One and Only Son, Jesus, Amen.
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