Friends Like These

Luke 5:17-20 One day Jesus was teaching the people … They had come from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem … There was a man who was paralysed, and some other men were carrying him on a mat. They tried to bring him and put him down before Jesus. But there were so many people that they could not find a way to Jesus. So they went up on the roof and lowered the crippled man down through a hole in the ceiling. They lowered the mat into the room so that the crippled man was lying before Jesus. Jesus saw how much faith they had and said to the sick man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

A question for you today: What sort of friends have you surrounded yourself with? Good friends, loyal friends, mediocre friends … friends who aren’t even friends at all? What sort?

It doesn’t matter how smart, clever or strong you might be, none of us can do life on our own. We need everything from encouragement to admonishment, from freedom to discipline, from being supported to supporting others. That was always God’s plan. And how we choose our friends makes a huge difference to the life that we’ll lead.

There are some friends mentioned in the Bible who, each time I read their story, completely blow my mind.

Luke 5:17-20 One day Jesus was teaching the people … They had come from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem … There was a man who was paralysed, and some other men were carrying him on a mat. They tried to bring him and put him down before Jesus. But there were so many people that they could not find a way to Jesus. So they went up on the roof and lowered the crippled man down through a hole in the ceiling. They lowered the mat into the room so that the crippled man was lying before Jesus. Jesus saw how much faith they had and said to the sick man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

Do you have friends who’d press through crowds, carrying you on a stretcher, to get you to Jesus – who’d climb up on the roof, rip a hole in it and lower you down at His feet? Who’d take that sort of risk for you? If not … find some!

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.