So adamant you go through the roof! …

Many of the greatest things we’ve ever accomplished in life are the things we have become the most adamant about.

Now there’s a word you don’t hear very often!

One dictionary defines the word “adamant” as “utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion in spite of all appeals, urgings, etc.” It’s often when we have become the most adamant about achieving a pursuit that we have experienced our greatest “successes” in life.

In Mark 2:1-5, we read the story of four men who were adamant about helping a friend, and see the dramatic outcome of their efforts:

“When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven.'”

Before these four men could accomplish anything, they first had to see their friend’s need and see Jesus as being his only answer.

It’s easy to surround ourselves with people who call themselves our friends but never take the time to understand what’s going on in our lives and what our real needs are, or even more, to actually care about our needs. And it’s easy to be that kind of “friend” as well.

But such wasn’t the case for the paralyzed man Mark writes about. He was blessed with four friends who cared so deeply about his needs they became adamant about achieving a solution for him.

To get their friend to Jesus so that he may be healed, these four men worked together on a task they couldn’t accomplish on their own. It would take the combined strength of all four men to carry their paralyzed friend to Jesus. They didn’t individually see the challenge of helping their friend as too big to handle and so pass it off, but instead, they pooled together so they would be capable of accomplishing the task.

Having united in their task, and being adamant about their objective, these four men did whatever it took to get their friend to the feet of Jesus. They didn’t let a crowd blocking their way discourage them. Instead, they climb on top of the house Jesus was in, tore a hole in the roof of the dwelling, and lowered their friend down in front of the Savior. They were determined to overcome any obstacle that tried to deter them from getting their friend to Jesus.

The result was everything they hoped for: “Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven.’”

There’s likely one other thing these four men did that isn’t mentioned in this passage. They probably paid the cost involved in getting their friend to Jesus. In order to get around the crowd and get their friend in front of Jesus, they had to tear up someone’s roof. Someone would have to pay to fix that, and the cost for repairs was likely factored into the adamant mission of these men.

Like this man Mark writes about, it’s going to take some real effort to get your friends to Jesus. But first, you have to see their need for salvation, and see Jesus as their only answer. And then you have to get adamant about helping them get to Jesus.

Just how adamant are you about bringing your friends to Christ?

Scotty