This article was written by Andrew Palau.

One of my greatest joys, when I’m not on the road, is reading from the Word of God each night with my boys, Christopher and Jonathan. My wife Wendy and I are very proud of them. Reading the Bible with them is one of our attempts to ensure they meet Jesus through His Word. And God often speaks to me during this time. The boys’ comments, questions, and prayers stimulate and develop my own understanding of Scripture and remind me of things God has shown me in the past.

The other day we read in Matthew the story where Jesus heals a paralytic. The passage is about a man who needed forgiveness and healing. The phrase in Matthew 9:2 struck me: “Some men brought to him (Jesus) a paralytic…” This man needed a savior, and his friends brought him to the one and only Healer and Savior. What beautiful friends to have! Faithful friends.

The Gospel of Mark also tells the story, revealing in greater detail the tremendous effort of the friends to get the paralytic to Jesus. They “made an opening in the roof above Jesus and… lowered the mat” (Mark 2:4). No matter how different their roofs were compared to ours today, this was not a normal activity! They were taking great risks to get help for their friend and, I’ve got to imagine, looked a little silly.

The same story is told in Luke 5. The part I most love is where it says they eventually got him “right in front of Jesus” (Luke 5:19). That’s the whole point! They knew Jesus had the power to heal their friend and, undeterred by physical obstructions, they creatively found a way to get their buddy right in front of Jesus!

I love that these friends, determined and desperate, were willing to do something a little outrageous. Their confidence in Jesus overwhelmed any concern of what others might think. They risked relationships and their reputation in the community, but they ultimately got their friend in front of Jesus. Are you that kind of friend?