September 7
Faith Is Creative!
And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. - Mark 2:4
Faith is full of creativity. The house was full, a crowd blocked the entry, but faith found a creative way of getting to the Lord and placing the paralytic before Him. If we cannot get sinners to Jesus by ordinary methods, we must use extraordinary ones. It seems, according to Luke 5:19, that roof tiles had to be removed. That would create dust and cause a measure of danger to those below; but where the case is very urgent, we must be prepared to run some risks and shock some people. Jesus was there to heal, and therefore roof or no roof, faith ventured all so that the poor paralytic might have his sins forgiven. We need more daring creative faith among us! Dear reader, let us seek it this morning for ourselves and for our fellow-workers and try today to perform some gallant act for the love of souls and the glory of the Lord.
The world is constantly creating and inventing; genius serves all the purposes of human desire: Can't faith invent too and by some creative means reach the people who are strangers to the Gospel? It was the presence of Jesus that stirred this victorious courage in the four friends of the paralytic. Is the Lord still present among us? Have we seen His face for ourselves this morning? Have we felt His healing power in our own souls? If so, then through the door or the window or the roof let us overcome every hindrance in bringing others to Jesus.
When faith and love are truly set on winning souls, we will learn to be creative in our approach. If hunger for bread can break through stone walls, surely hunger for souls is not to be hindered in its efforts. O Lord, make us quick to suggest and employ methods of reaching our friends and neighbors and of introducing them to You!
Family Bible reading plan
verse 1 2 Samuel 1
verse 2 1 Corinthians 12
From the Resurrection to His Return: Living Faithfully in the Last Days
By D.A. Carson
Commonly, when the Bible speaks about the ‘last days’, it refers to the entire period between Christ’s first coming and His second. The idea is that the coming of Christ is so world transforming, now that the kingdom has already dawned, that the old world is petering out; it is coming to an end. So, according to Scripture, what are the characteristics of these ‘last days’ and how are we to view the world in light of this.
Author D.A. Carson and professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School helps us better understand the world around us in these terms and gives practical instruction for how we are to live our lives surrounding by a culture increasingly resistant to living within the sovereignty of God’s Will.
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From Morning & Evening revised and edited by Alistair Begg copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.