the Third Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Daily Devotionals
Grace for Today
Luke 5:17-26
Four of the most important men in the Bible
Read John 1:35-51
I do not know their names, where they were born, or where they died. The Bible only records one thing that they did. But the one thing which these four men did is the most important work ever performed by men: these four men brought a man to the Lord.
These four men knew the Lord. They had true faith in Christ. They believed him to be the Messiah. They recognized his power and authority as the sovereign Lord, the Son of God. They knew that he had power both to heal disease and to forgive sin. They also knew where Christ was and where he was displaying his power and grace. He is God. He is everywhere present. But there are certain places where he meets with men and manifests his power and grace to them. These men had a friend who desperately needed Christ. Their friend was a hopelessly, helplessly paralyzed man. They could not heal their friend or forgive his sin. And they had no way of knowing whether or no Christ would so do. But they knew that if he would, he could. Knowing Christ’s power and grace and knowing their friend’s desperate need, these four men determined to bring their poor friend to Christ. It was not an easy thing to do. The room was crowded with people. No one offered to assist them nor even to make room for them, But they were not deterred. ‘They sought means to bring him in and to lay him before him.’ At last they got their friend before the Lord. They said nothing; they simply laid the helpless man before Christ. And as a direct result of their labors and faith towards Christ, two marvelous things happened: a sinner was freely forgiven of all his sins and the Lord God was glorified. These four men had been voluntary instruments in the hands of the Lord, and God used them to accomplish his eternal purpose!
I want to be like these four men, diligently laboring to bring sinners to Christ, faithfully giving myself to the work, allowing nothing to stand in my way. And I want you to be like these men - each one doing what he can to get sinners to the Savior. We cannot save men, renew their hearts, nor give them faith. But we can get men under the sound of the gospel.
