Friendship

I like to check out the daily devotionals on the Upper Room website as often as possible. Today the reading was Mark 2:1-12. This story takes place after Jesus returns to Capernaum. He is inside a house and so many people have come to see him that even the door is inaccessible. Four men carry a paralyzed man on a mat to visit Jesus. They cannot reach the door because of the swarm of people. So these men lift their friend to the roof and lower him down into the house. Jesus forgave his sins and healed him. He picked up his mat and carried it home. Now, I believe the main point of the story is about Faith- as it so often is. Jesus spoke to the scribes about what lay in their hearts and healed the paralyzed man because of his faith. But I also see an underlying message in this story about friendship- faithful friends. The paralyzed man had faith enough to desire to see Jesus. He also had some faithful friends who carried him- who knows how far- so that their friend could see Jesus. This is the kind of friend I would like to be to others. A faithful friend that would carry others to Christ.