Mark 2:4-5 – “…when they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and after digging an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralyzed man was lying. 5 And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” (NASB)
One of the ways for us to examine the reality of our faith is to be honest with ourselves about to what extent we are willing to go to lead people to Jesus. Apart from abiding in Jesus each day and tapping into the reservoir of His endless love, we lack the inspiration to sacrifice anything to get people to Jesus. We need Jesus to crucify our desires and resurrect us with His.
Would you be alright if leading someone to Jesus meant having your home regularly available to guests and Bible studies? How about people and youth who are disrespectful to your furniture and leave things a mess when they leave? What if getting someone to Jesus meant never hearing your preferred music on Sunday mornings, thus relegating it to your alone time? What if it meant people messing up the carpet, dressing casually for church, even wearing a hat? If you knew that someone could potentially miss out on Jesus because of your preferences, not Jesus’ preferences, are you alright with that?
Did you know the gift of God is His Holy Spirit replacing OUR passions and desires for HIS passions and desires? Jesus Christ came for the sick. Jesus Christ wants a people filled with His love, zealous for good works, content to have the roof ripped off the church if necessary to get someone to Jesus.
When our culture says, ‘let’s raise the roof!’ they mean making a lot of noise with celebration and shouting. When we fully surrender to Jesus Christ, His love makes heaven raise the roof as we’re now compelled to get people to Jesus at any cost to self.