By: Carole L. Haines
“One day Jesus was teaching, and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting near who had come from every village of Galilee, Judea, and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. And some men were carrying a man on a stretcher who was paralyzed, and they were trying to bring him in and set him down in front of Jesus. But when they did not find any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. And seeing their faith, He said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven you.’ (Luke 5:17-20 NIV)
I am married to my best-ever friend. He is truly one heart and soul with me. You couldn’t have two people more different than Bruce and I. Our family upbringings and experiences have little in common, save the fact that there was one mother and one father, and they were married to each other. That’s about where the similarities end. Suffice it to say that our adjustments to married life were many and took lots of work. But O the payoff for the efforts put in were like gold in settings of silver. I am so blessed to be married to him.
Yet the friends depicted in this story of Jesus excel them all. They didn’t give up at the front door. They ripped the roof off a stranger’s house to get help for their friend. They didn’t play nice; they didn’t wait their turn. They pushed to the front of the line and when that didn’t work, they climbed up by another way. Such determination is little heard of these days. They didn’t throw in the towel; they didn’t give up their friend as lost. They pursued his wholeness with all their might. O Jesus. Make me a friend like that, give me friends like that. Holy Jesus, thank you for friends like that. Thank you for my best husband friend, my precious children friends. But most of all Jesus, thank You for being that kind of Savior, that kind of King, that kind of friend. Thank you for tearing the roof off for us like You did and making a way for us to spend eternity with You in Heaven. We love you, Dear Lord, teach us how to love you more. Amen!
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