A little boy was told by his doctor that he could save his sister’s life by giving her some blood. The six-year-old girl was near death, a victim of disease from which the boy had made a marvelous recovery two years earlier.

Her only chance for restoration was a blood transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the illness. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor.

“Johnny, would you like to give your blood for Mary?” the doctor asked.

The boy hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled, and said, “Sure, Doc. I’ll give my blood for my sister.”

Soon the two children were wheeled into the operating room – Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and the picture of health. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned. As his blood siphoned into Mary’s veins, one could almost see new life come into her tired body.

The ordeal was almost over when Johnny’s brave little voice broke the silence, “Say Doc, when do I die?” It was only then that the doctor realized what the moment of hesitation, the trembling of the lip, had meant earlier.

Little Johnny actually thought that in giving his blood to his sister he was giving up his life! And in that brief moment, the final decision that he had made was the greatest love of all… the unconditional sacrificing love..

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 

As I was getting ready to start my day today I began thinking about this story in the Bible where Jesus was at a house in Capernaum. So many people from the area had heard he was there and they began to show up in droves. The house was full as well as all around the outside of the house and Jesus was preaching the word to them.

While he was preaching some men showed up (four to be exact) and they were carrying a paralytic. They tried their best to get this man to Jesus because they had heard of his great healing power. They truly believed that Jesus could heal their friend. They just had one problem, trying to get through the crowd was like trying to cut through a stone wall. They’re were just way to many people and I’m sure none of them wanted to move out of the way. They all came to see the man that everyone was talking about. Maybe he would perform some miracle. They were not about to miss a miracle all because they took some time to let a paralytic and his friends through.

These men were not about to give up though instead they worked their way to the top of the house onto the roof. They began to dig a hole in the roof until finally they broke through. Slowly they lowered their friend down to the ground right in front of Jesus.

I can’t help but wonder what was going through the mind of the owner of this house. I mean if it was my house I think I would have been really mad because these guys just tore my roof apart but we don’t know because the owner is never mentioned. Maybe his anger was deterred by his curiosity. Maybe he was more anxious about seeing how Jesus would respond to the man who was lowered in front of him.

I’m sure everyone around was filled with excitement as this paralytic was put before Jesus. Now they would all get what they came for A Miracle! I’m sure the room got quiet as Jesus looked at this man and his friends. You could probably hear a pin drop as Jesus looked at the paralytic and said with all confidence “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

I can almost sense the mood change in the crowd after he said those words. I can imagine some of them feeling upset because all he said was your sins are forgiven. What your sins are forgiven! where’s the miracle?! we came here to see a miracle and all your offering is forgiveness. What if the story ended there? What if all Jesus did was forgive the man? I wonder what the outcome would have been then. They probably would have drug him from the house and stoned him to death. But it didn’t end there. Most of us know the ending. Jesus heals the man, he gets up and takes his mat and goes home and the people praise God.

The story just makes me wonder though…what if all Jesus had to offer us was that one act on the cross. What if all he ever did for us was offer his forgiveness? Would that be enough or would we like some of the people in the story above need more. I mean how much is enough? So many of us are happy Christians as long as we feel God is doing things in our lives or as long as we feel God is providing or giving us stuff. But what if all that stopped today. What if for whatever reason God just stopped giving. Would the cross still be enough? He really doesn’t have to give us anything else. But is what was already given enough?

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Robbie Heverling (robhev@yahoo.com)
Used by Permission

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…