Who Has The Corners?

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.

Mark 2:4

Some men took their friend to see Jesus. The friend couldn’t walk, and the men knew Jesus could heal him. But when they got to the house where Jesus was, it was so crowded that they couldn’t get inside.

These friends didn’t say, “Well, we tried,” and then give up. They went onto the roof, cut a hole in it, and lowered the man through it. Jesus noticed them and healed the man. If the men hadn’t believed Jesus could heal their friend, or if they had given up when they couldn’t get him into the house, the man would not have been healed.

The paralyzed man had four friends to carry his mat when he needed help. It’s important to have these kinds of friends in your life. You need people who are willing to grab the corners of your mat when you need assistance. Of course it may not be a real mat. You probably don’t need that kind of help, but you may need support with the difficult situations in your life.

People who want to be around you only when you’re having fun aren’t the kinds of friends who will grab a corner for you. Girls who want to be your friend only when you can do something for them in return aren’t good corner holders either.

Your corner holders may be in your classroom, on your sports team, in your Sunday school class, or in your youth group. But they may not be. You might have an older sister who is the one who stands beside you when things get tough. Or it might be a teacher or a parent. Corner holders can be anyone who cares enough about you to be there for you.

Are you a corner holder for your friends? Can they come to you when they need to talk or need to know someone cares about their problems? Do you stand beside them when they are sad or down? Do you point them to an adult who can help when they have a problem that needs answers?

The paralyzed man had four friends willing to take him to Jesus to be healed. They didn’t give up when helping got tough. Can you think of four people in your life who would do something like that for you? Thank God for them, and be sure to pray for them daily. Take an extra minute to thank them for being that kind of friend for you.