What Are You Willing to Do to Get Someone to Jesus

As I read through the Bible, I am always looking for ways to see the stories that are not the bold, slap-you-in-the-face, normal way of seeing it. There is one such story, found in the book of Mark. It's the story of four young men who had a friend in need. They took him to Jesus for help and Jesus provided the needed help. It's quite a success story and one that most of us have heard time and time again. It makes us feel good for the crippled man.

I think, though, we can get so much from the four young men. We can look at their actions and compare that to our daily actions. How can we be more like them? Of course, we have to realize that we all have friends who are just like this crippled man, maybe not physically, but definitely spiritually.

As I read this story, I am impressed with four things that these young men did in order to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. There are four stages, each requiring more of them, as the story progresses. As we look at these, we ask ourselves, "Am I willing to go that far to get someone to Jesus?"

The first aspect is found in their willingness to carry their friend. He was completely unable to get to Jesus by himself. He needed his friends. We, as humans, are all like that at one point in our lives, spiritually. We all need someone to show us how to get to Jesus. No doubt, we can all think of that person or persons who prayed for us and showed us just who Jesus is.

When I think of these young men carrying their friend, the phrase, "Carry them to the throne," always comes to mind. I think about going to God in prayer and carrying my lost friends and loved ones to Jesus. James instructs us to do this. He tells us to pray fervently. How do we do that? We pray for them and their needs as though they were our needs. In this way, we take their burdens upon ourself, just as these men took the burden of their friend on their shoulders and carried him to Jesus.

Next, they were willing to look for ways to get their friend to Jesus. It wouldn't have done him much good if they had dropped him at the door and told him that Jesus was just inside the home. They needed to find an entrance into the house. They looked at windows, doors, ultimately climbing onto the roof.