I Will Carry You
The wind blew gently over the quiet town. No one knew He was coming, no one knew He was entering their very presence. But why should it be any different? This only happens once in a great while. As the Man walked quietly down the road people wondered who He might be. Who was this stranger among them? Then suddenly it clicked in someones mind! “I know who this is,” the old man cried. “This is Jesus, the one who heals!” Immediately people burst from there homes. It was no longer a quiet morning with no one out. It was now the loudest and most electrifying day the town had known in quite some time! People were coming from everywhere, thronging Jesus, asking Him questions, begging to be healed, and just wanting to get to know Him.
One man had been watching the entire ordeal. He ran down the street the opposite way of Jesus. As he ran He thought, “if this Jesus can heal others, why couldn’t he heal my friend back home?” He grabbed one of his friends who was heading toward Jesus. “Come help me get my friend so we can bring him to Jesus as well!” As they dashed down the road together, more and more people were arriving. How would they get to Jesus now!? As they ran inside their friend looked at them like crazy people. “What are you two doing?” You see, this man was lame and bed ridden for the rest of his life. His friends didn’t care about this, however. They grabbed his bed and ran out the door as fast as their feet could carry them. As they neared the house where Jesus was speaking they were obviously getting very weary, but there was also a need to push through the crowd. They just couldn’t make it through. Then they saw stairs leading to the roof.
As they scraped away at the roof tiles, blood flowing from their hands, all they could think about was getting their friend to Jesus. When they were finally finished they lowered him slowly, landing right in front of Jesus. I can just imagine the man’s reaction to this — I would have been terrified! But Jesus, in all His love, looked down at him and said “thy sins are forgiven thee… Arise, take up thy bed, and go your way to your house.”
This story always seemed to amaze me, but this time as I read it something struck home. So many times I’ve heard that we have to be the ones to push through to Jesus — which is completely true — but sometimes we have to be carried. Sometimes our brother or sister or friend has to be the one to lift us up and lower us down in front of Jesus when we are “spiritually paralyzed.” Our friends can be the ones to lift us up in prayer. They can stand in the gap, or intercede, on our behalf. If I am too weak, I know I’d love for one of my friends to come along and bring me to Jesus. When I am strong enough, I’ll push through on my own. But if I’m not, then I know that I need a friend to carry me to Jesus. It’s just like the song says, “I will carry you to Jesus.”
So I challenge you: if one of your friends is spiritually paralyzed, don’t be afraid to carry them to Jesus. You might be the one who keeps them from becoming spiritually dead.
Amen thats true.
Good challenge and a good reminder that sometimes we have to be carried.