Today's Scripture:

Mark 2:1-12 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Read: Reflect on a story in your life that pertains to this scripture.
This scripture is telling me that I can have faith in Jesus, by letting Him work His plan, even when I don’t know what will happen. I can also have trust that He will help people who are in the situation like my friend. He can tell me what I can do for other people to help. If I can help them, then I probably will help them. If I was not in the situation, then I can pray for the person who needs help. Also, if I can’t help, I still know Jesus can.

Reflect: What is this scripture telling you during this season?
It is good to have friends in your life. A good friend is someone who you can trust and you know can trust you. A friend is someone who is willing to help you when you are hurt or down, or when you are in need. I have a friend named Hess who I play baseball with. Hess was hurt in a baseball tournament running to first base. He stepped on the base in a funny way and dislocated his knee cap. He fell to the ground, screaming. Our coach and some of the dads immediately came over to help him. Hess’ dad had just left the game to do something else, so he didn’t have any family in the stands. They carried him to a car and took him to the emergency room until his dad could meet them there. In this scripture, people took one of their friends who was paralyzed to Jesus because they knew Jesus could heal him. They had faith that Jesus could heal him. But it was crowded so they took him to the top of the building, cut a hole in the roof, and lowered him down to Jesus. The paralyzed man had good friends who were willing to help him.

Respond: How is this scripture calling you to respond?
I know that I can have faith in Jesus. Even though I don’t know what his plan is, I know that it is good.

About Winn Barrow:
Student
11 years, involved in Student Ministries