Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” – Mark 2:5 (NLT)

The story of the paraplegic man is told in Mark 2:1-12. Can you picture it? Four men hear about the Master healing the sick, blind and disabled so they put their friend on a mat and carry him to see Jesus (Mark 2:3). The passage doesn’t say that they were friends, but I like to think that it was friends who carried him to Jesus. Can you just imagine the four of them talking and believing that Jesus could heal their friend? But how to get him there…..so they put him on a mat and carry him to see Jesus. What did they talk about on their walk? They arrive where Jesus is preaching only to find such a crowd that they can’t get their friend close enough for Jesus to touch him. These enterprising friends carry him to the roof where they dig a hole in the roof and lower him down to Jesus. You’ll note that it wasn’t necessarily the faith of the paralyzed man that healed him – the scripture says, “Seeing their faith…” – so it may have been the faith of the friends that helped to heal him. We’re later told in this passage that Jesus told the man to “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” (Mark 2:11) This man experienced a healing because he had friends who carried him to meet Jesus. Friends who had the faith to know that Jesus would heal their friend and who made the time to help a friend. Imagine the celebration that these friends had! I can picture them laughing and dancing along the road as their friend walked with them.

Do you have friends of faith? Friends who stand with you in prayer and who carry you when you need their help? Are you a friend of faith? I am blessed to have “friends of faith” and it’s my prayer that I’m a friend of faith to them as well.

Father God,

Thank You for blessing me with wonderful friends of faith – friends who are with me in times of grief as well as in times of joy. Thank You for providing me with friends whose loving arms embrace me and who hold my hand in prayer. You have sent these wonderful, special people into my life and I will be eternally grateful. Father, I ask that You help me to be a friend of faith to them as well. May You use my arms to embrace them when they need to feel Your love, or to speak a word of encouragement at a time when they need it most. You are a God of love, and may Your love flow through me to those friends You have placed into my life.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen