Mark 2:7-11 “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming; “who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

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What is life but our response to the world in which we live? When we are hungry, we seek out food. When we take a dive in a pool we want to go to the top to get air. When we stop this response, we die physically. The same principle applies to our spiritual lives. When we respond to it, surrender to it, and receive our very life from it – then we live happily and abundantly. This miracle of healing from Mark reveals both a physical need being met by the healing of a body and a spiritual one of healing of a soul. As much as the man on the pad needed something to be fixed for his body, Jesus saw the greater need for his soul.

It was a choice of Jesus to address the spiritual before the physical. Forgiveness, love, and cleansing are more helpful than the straightening of legs. I have the same choice this morning. Sure, I can pray for less pain in my physical life, but more important than squeaky knees and pain in my back is the state of my soul. I have everything and nothing if I do not have the spiritual first.

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Help me Lord to seek the Kingdom of God first.

#JustLarry