He couldn’t walk. He had been paralyzed for a long time, all he could do was drag himself, sit or lie down. For any other form of mobility he depended on others to carry him. But who had the time for that? Who cared? Four friends, yes, four men cared. And one fine day, they decided to take their friend, on some kind of bed, all the way to a house where a so-called Jesus would be. The fame which preceded Him was that He could heal any disease. Yet on arrival, there was no room for them to even enter the door. Thousands of people crowded the place to hear His words, or at least get a glimpse of His face, or perhaps with a bit of luck touch Him. The four friends were determined. They wouldn’t let their friend down and bring him back without a solution. They wouldn’t waste a whole trip. It was now or never. They needed to call Jesus’ attention. Someone had an idea: “the roof.” So they climbed up the house, removed a part of the roof, tied ropes to the bed, and lowered in the man to where Jesus was. Seeing the faith of those friends, He immediately cured the paralytic. (Read the story in Mark 2.) That’s what friends are for. Real friends are not just friends on Facebook. Like those four, a friend cares, they lift you up when you’re down, they don’t see obstacles when it’s time to help you, they don’t let you stay down, they stand you up. A desperate husband wrote to us because his wife wanted to leave him after 18 years of marriage. The reason? Her single “friends” made up her mind that “the married life is not a life at all.” The word “friend” is used very casually now-a-days. In the Facebook era, people have thousands of virtual “friends” and don’t even know what friendship really means. From the Latin word “amicitia” friendship is a word derived from “love.” How can a friend not want you to have a marriage? Stick around a person long enough and you’ll end up being influenced by them. That’s why you should choose your friends wisely. And before you call yourself that persons “friend,” consider if you really care so much about the person that you would help them in the time of need. On the contrary, simply consider yourself an acquaintance. This Sunday, be a friend to someone in need. Take them to the closest Universal. The meeting will be especially for those who are in need of God. This event will be happening at your local Universal.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 09:32:58 +0000