Bring Them To Jesus

Recently, someone gave a devotion on the paralytic man (Luke 5:17-24). It opened my eyes to the story in a way that I had never thought about it before. First, I thought about how much faith the friends of the paralytic man must have had, they overcame every obstacle to get their friend to Jesus, because they believed He would heal him. I am not sure if they still would have done this if they had less faith, but ripping up the roof of a house to get someone to Jesus is pretty determined.

Secondly, I thought about the application for my life right now. I imagine that however difficult it was to get to Jesus, it was easier then, because he was there physically, but now I wonder, how can I bring people to Jesus? As I was thinking about this question during the devotional they said the way that I can do this is through prayer.

When they said that I was like “Oh, yeah! That makes perfect sense!” But then I thought, how many times do I try to fix the person before bringing them to Jesus? And how many times, am I more focused on the outside problems of those people, instead of what Jesus is focused on, the heart.

In Luke 5:20 it says, "And when he saw their faith, he said, 'Man, your sins are forgiven you.'”ESV It was almost as if Jesus did not even see that the man was paralyzed.

At first I think “What?!” not being able to walk seems like the bigger problem, but in reality I think this is because I am only looking at the outside and not within. I can’t even see the problems that are on the inside, but I know that without Jesus I would think that I was fine, but He can see the conditions of the heart and knows what I really need.

I need to remember that I can’t fix people’s outward problems or see within their hearts, so before even trying to fix them, I should just bring to Jesus. But this shouldn’t be done halfheartedly, because if I don’t really believe that Jesus can save them, what is the point of bringing them to Him. But if I do believe wholeheartedly that He can not only save me, but them also, I should strive to be like those men who stopped at nothing to bring their friend to Jesus.

But I find that either I continually say, “I really need to pray for them.” or that I pray for them one time and assume that’s good enough. No! I need to stop thinking that way, it’s not good enough. If this story was different and those men just put their friend outside by the edge of the crowd it’s possible that the miracle that took place, may never have happened. I want to be so motivated and determined to bring people to Jesus that He is moved by my faith in Him, just like those men.

For the longest the time the Lord has shown me over and over again that He answers prayer. I want to be someone who prays in a way that show that I truly believe that. I have struggled for the longest time thinking that I had to pray in a specific way or at specific place in order for it to be right and sometimes I still find myself believing those lies.

But I know the Lord can help me with that. I pray and want to be the kind of person, that no longer thinks of prayer as a religious act, but instead I want to view prayer as a privilege not only for me to be able to spend time with the Lord, but also a way for me to bring people to Jesus.

Because how much more would I pray if I saw it as a picture of myself taking the lost and broken up onto the roof, tearing up and removing all the obstacles, so they could be laid before the King and completely healed. Jesus, please teach me and help me stop at nothing to bring them to you.