Jesus is Calling. What’s Keeping You?

Luke 5:18-20
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Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

I want you to imagine waking up on Sunday morning in grogginess, rolling over to one side to see the time on your clock. As you do this, a thought crosses your mind: “Do I need to be at worship service this morning?”. After all, this is entirely justified because you’ve been at service three out of the last four weeks! One Sunday gathering off shouldn’t hurt.

Unfortunately, situations like this are all too common in our modern world of convenience. We see an entirely different world in scripture, however. The paralyzed man in Luke 5 was desperate for healing, and beyond that, he knew that Jesus was the one who could heal. Unfortunately for him, so many people knew that Jesus was the source of life, and that popularity created a literal roadblock that prevented this man from seeing Him. Yet, such a roadblock was removed through one thing: desperation.

The man had such a need, such pain that needed to be cleansed, such a desire for restoration that he and his friends decided to lower him through a hole cut in the roof. Is this our view of Jesus? Is he really the fullness of life that we desperately need? What roof in your life is preventing you from answering Jesus’ call? What excuses do you need to let go of?

Jesus is waiting to call you friend, so will you come to him or stay asleep?