GOD REWARDS THE DETERMINED SOUL (PART 5, FINAL PART)

TEXT:

"And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee ... (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house." (Mark 2 verses 3 to 11, King James Version).

While the Lord Jesus was here on earth, multitudes of people followed Him wherever He went. Oftentimes, getting across to Him was a big problem. It was so with Zacheaus, the woman with the issue of blood, and today we are considering yet another case of difficulty reaching Jesus because of the crowd.

     Four men decided to take their sick friend to Jesus for healing. The Bible says that "Because of the crowd, however, they could not get the man to him. So they made a hole in the roof right above the place where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they let the man down, lying on his mat." (Mark 2 verse 4, Good News Translation). Obviously, this was an amazing and astonishing thing to do. Again, this was a display of desperation or determination on the part of both the sick man and his friends to reach the Lord for healing.

     We should realize that the Lord was not just busy; but was speaking and was hedged about by the crowd in a borrowed house. With this in mind, it follows therefore that when the roof was removed in order to reach Jesus, it had to be replaced or repaired later. Needless to say, this was ruinous and constituted  trespass to someone else's property.

      But the Lord didn't rebuke the men for doing so. Instead, He appeared to be happy that these four men and their sick friend would come to Him with such a big demand which He regarded as faith. With the Lord Jesus, it seems that the bigger the demand was, the happier He felt. Like I said in part 4 to this series, it seems like the Lord delights in men coming to Him with big demands. 

      Rather than rebuke these men for causing damage to the home of His host, the Lord Jesus commended their faith. The Bible says "when Jesus saw their faith, ...". To Him, this extraordinary act was a show of their faith in Him. Like I have said repeatedly in the previous parts to this series, extraordinary measures from us towards God have the tendency to touch His tender feelings to do us good. For instance, in 1st Kings 3 verse 4, Solomon did an unusual and extraordinary thing. He offered to God a thousand burnt offerings which no man had ever done! Any wonder why the Lord went to him in a dream saying to him, "Ask what I shall give thee."? (see 1st Kings 3 verse 5).

     Time will fail me to write about the extraordinary desperation or determination of Elisha when he refused to quit following Elijah until he got the double portion of his anointing (2nd Kings 2 verses 1 to 18); or of the widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18 verses 1 to 5); and of the prodigal son (Luke 15 verses 11 to 32), etc.

     As you come to the Lord, let Him see your desperation or determination in your approach towards seeking Him and you will never fail to strike at His tender feelings to do you good, in Jesus name.

PRAYER

Lord, grant me grace to seek and to serve You beyond the ordinary, in the way and manner no one else has ever done, in Jesus name.