Our faith inspires others

"Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.'" Mark 2:4-5 NIV

In a heartwarming moment captured by WBZ on Monday, three Boston marathoners were seen carrying a fellow runner to the finish line — putting her down a little before it so she could cross on her own. It seems Emily Edquist, from Georgia, Samantha Renzi, from California, and Kristina Schunk, from Minnesota, spotted Luz Blakney, from Virginia, struggling to finish so they decided to stop and help her. WMZ later tweeted "This is what the #BostonMarathon spirit is all about - coming together to help a fellow runner get to the finish line!" Emily responded to the tweet by writing, "It was an honor to help her out! Boston marathon truly showed how amazing people are." And then Luz, ever so thankful for her new friends, tweeted this reply, "Emily thank you so much! And I am so sorry for slowing you down!! I am so grateful to have you right there next to me on that moment. Forever grateful!!" Responding to that, Heidi Edquist summed up the event with this tweet, "The runners legs cramped and gave way. She needed help to get to the side for the sake of her safety as well as the other runners. That little lift from strangers helped her enough to continue and she finished on her OWN strength to the finish line!" Do you just love that or what? Kind of restores your faith in humanity a little bit, doesn't it?

And you know, when it comes to restoring someone's faith or inspiring them to seek Jesus, the Bible tells us the story of a paralytic man who had some pretty amazing friends. So amazing, in fact, that upon hearing that Jesus was in town, the four buddies brought the man to see Him. But "since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on." And this is where it gets good. "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.'" Did you get that part? When Jesus saw the faith of the friends? And not only did Jesus forgive the man's sins, He healed him... something that you can be sure restored the faith of all those watching. Do you just love that or what?

So knowing that putting our faith into action inspires others to seek Him, look for moments and ways that you can give a friend or a stranger that "little lift" they might need to make it to the finish line. You'll never know the effects doing something so simple will have.

Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that doing Your will is infinitely more important than following our own. In this race of life, remind us that ONLY what we do for You will have eternal value and is worth pursuing. Knowing that Lord, let us never hesitate to help someone in need... even if it costs us our own race knowing that you will get the glory. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!