Pick up your "mat"!

When I was younger, I remember watching this particular show that revolves around kids my age in school. On one of the episodes a classmate humorously comments to another classmate that this fellow classmate's summer report about his trip to a foreign country meant "nothin'" if he didn't have any pictures (proof). This classmate brushed off this comment and was confident that his teacher would still like the paper. Fast forward a little bit, and when the teacher asked this classmate regarding his paper whether or not he had any pictures, the classmate sheepishly replied, "no". The teacher in reply said, "Then you got nothin."

Stick with me here, because I want to talk about your "pictures"in your report. From the book of Mark chapter 2:

Mark 2

New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

2 When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. ² 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, ³ four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. ⁴ 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. ⁵ Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶ But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, ⁷ “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”

⁸ Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? ⁹ Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? ¹⁰ So I will prove to you that the Son of Man^[a] has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, ¹¹ “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”

¹² And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”

I have heard many messages and read many things concerning this passage before: about the boldness and faith of the paralyzed man's friends, of the forgiveness of sins by Jesus whose authority to do so was proven by the physically miraculous, and of those who saw this miracle praising God because of this amazing and spectacular event. But the spirit of God impressed something upon me I never thought of before when I read this again. In verse 11 when Jesus heals the paralyzed man, he says, "stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!"

I have used a wheelchair for about half my life. It is with me all day every day. While I know I am fortunate to have the necessary medical equipment that assist me in my daily life activities, I still cannot help myself from not wanting to see my wheelchair ever again. If Jesus looked directly at me and told me to "stand up!", the last thing I would ever want to do when I stood up from being healed before joyfully running home to my family and friends to excitedly testify how Jesus healed me completely, is to first turn around and make sure I bring my wheelchair with me (for this paralyzed man, his "wheelchair"was his mat)!

When God has done a miracle in our lives, He wants us to testify to others we know (particularly non-believers)  by using things from our past no one can deny. Videos, pictures, x-rays, doctors reports, walkers, canes, and wheelchairs to name a few to testify to others of when we were physically sick and now by the healing power of Jesus, we can "stand up, pick up our mat, and go home!"

Throughout Scripture, we continually find that God works miracles so that He can be glorified. Whether that be a physical miracle, a relationship miracle, a financial miracle, or a salvation miracle, we are to bring praise and glory to Him! Any miracle that we receive, remember that it is not about us. The miracle is about His power and awesomeness being glorified for all to see!

And don't forget about the greatest, most unfathomable, and most fantastic miracle He has given us ---- the life and resurrection of His only Son (God in flesh) to annihilate all of our iniquities so that we can all be with the Father in eternity when we die! All we have to do is repent (turn completely from), and then pursue and trust in Jesus Christ (we do those things by obeying the commands of Jesus). We should all “pick up our mat” and eagerly show this to others to give glory to God! Every follower of Christ has a “mat” right now ---- it is your joy and love of Jesus that comes from undeserved salvation!  To whom have you shown your "mat" today?