I think most of us are familiar with the story that The
Bible tells in Mark of Jesus & the paralytic.
That is the story of the time that Jesus came to town and
everyone knew he was going to be there so everyone crowded into a house and
there was literally no place for one more man to fit so this paralytic got a
bunch of people to bust off part of the house and lower him down in?
And Jesus healed him…and the paralytic got up and walked out
of there.
As the political climate in this country continues to grow more and more acrid, there are a higher and higher percentage of people becoming dependant on the state. That is, people feeding off the system so much that they are literally bound to wherever it goes and whatever conditions it displays.
Weather it be homeless vets, troubled youth, people who lack
job-skills who only know how to kick out kids or the entitlement state that
seems to be rising out of this great country that used to be all about getting
things done by pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.
I am not really sure what it is going to take for the
majority of these misled American’s to get that. Too many people these days are
not asking “What they can do for this country” ….Rather as Kennedy said NOT to
do, they are asking “What their country can do for them?”
I think that it’s the separation from The Word Of God that
has caused society to make a paradigm shift away from these great instances of
people overcoming all odds to get what they want accomplished.
I wish more people could put themselves in this paralytic’s
shoes…..
Think about it…..back then…being able to move around was
EVERYTHING….this guy must have been nearly COMPLETELY DEPENDANT on the
generosity of other people to do things like feed him and bathe him and change
his clothes.
…..so what changed? What was that spark? What caused him to
decide that the DAY Jesus came to town was the DAY he would overcome EVERYTHING…..
and convince WHOEVER and WHATEVER he needed to that HE needed to be across town
in the same room as Jesus?
That’s a pretty tall order considering everyone was rushing
to get a spot next to Him…
But the paralytic prevailed didn’t he? ……he decided that
every OTHER day…he could be controlled and held down by his dependence on his
physical condition or fate that was dealt him…every other day…BUT NOT THAT ONE…
I think that there have been times in all of our lives that
we have felt like we were slaves to the system or dependents of the state. I
used to talk about how much my ex is/was dependent on the various men in her
life she came across but it also goes for all of us….. I think that there are
systems or processes that The Lord puts us through or ties us to initially
because he is expecting us to learn how to unleash ourselves from those ties.
I have identified several of these areas in my own life and
am doing my best every day to do whatever it takes to make each day the
difference in them.
But what is it going to take to get our society to have
their own “Come see Jesus” moment and do whatever it takes to DECIDE that TODAY
is the LAST day they will suffer under being connected to a system they are
impossible to overcome the consequences of?
I wish I knew the answer to that one.
My Best,
Mark
