Made To Shine: Enjoy & Reflect God's LightSample

Faithful Friends

Have you ever experienced paralysis in your life? The kind of paralysis where one debilitating episode comes after the other? You struggle to pick yourself up off the ground, but to no avail.

And then you hear that there is a man in town who performs miracles. He goes by the name of Jesus; some are even calling Him the Son of God.

Your friends walk in and gently place you on a stretcher. They inform you that they are taking you to meet this Jesus. Yet just as your hope begins to soar, the realization that the chances of your friends getting you inside the jam-packed building to where your healing lies are slim to none. There is not an inch of room to spare.

But your friends are not ordinary. No. They are extraordinary.

They look at the seemingly impossible situation and find a way to climb the walls with you on the stretcher, remove part of the roof, and lower you into the room where the Son of God is teaching. Amazingly, you are placed at the very spot you need to be: in front of the only One who is capable of forgiving your sins and healing your limp body. 

This is all because your friends see your need as greater than their own. You know that they each have things they would like to ask the Son of God. They could use miracles in their own lives, but their selflessness and desire to see you restored take precedence. They are faithful friends.

And Jesus, seeing their faith, grants the healing and forgiveness that you have desperately hoped for since the paralysis hit. Your healing comes because of the self-sacrificial love of your friends who were willing to do whatever it took to place you directly in front of your Savior.

Luke 5:20 NCV tells us,

Seeing their faith, Jesus said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

Now that you are healed, will you do the same for others? Are you willing to be a faithful friend?

Jesus, what a blessing it is to have extraordinary friends who show us Your love. Help us to be faithful friends to others.