THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM: A 7 - Day Disovery of How God's Patterns for Living Turn Our Lives the Right Way Up by Youth Alive Ausნიმუში

LIFE'S NOT ABOUT YOU

Today’s Bible passage is a story about 4 men who brought a paralysed man to Jesus to be healed. Mark 2:3 (NIV) tells us, ‘Some men came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them.’

So many people gathered in a house to hear Jesus preach that there was no room for anyone else. So the men dug a hole in the roof and lowered the man down until he was right in front of Jesus. He saw their faith and healed the man. The incredible thing is, we don’t even know the names of the men. We don’t know who they were or where they came from, and once they lowered the man in front of Jesus, we never hear about them again. They weren’t vying for Jesus’ attention, and they never made a big deal that they were the reason for his miracle.

Our culture is all about getting recognition and promoting ourselves, but in God’s upside-down kingdom, He is looking for a generation who don’t need to make it all about themselves.

Most of you would not recognise the name Arthur Stace. Every morning, this man would leave his house at 4 am and wander the streets of Sydney. Every so often, he would stop and write ‘Eternity’ on the pavement. It was his one-word sermon. For 37 years, he chalked this word more than half a million times. For over a decade, these Eternity signs mystified Sydney. Arthur did not like publicity. He was finally spotted in 1956 but continued until he died in 1967. Eternity and Arthur’s story have become legendary in Sydney’s history, and for the Harbour Bridge New Year’s Eve celebration to welcome in the year 2000, the word Eternity lit up the bridge.

Arthur never did it for recognition. He was happy to remain nameless, so he could lift up the only Name that truly matters. We can learn a lot from Arthur and the four nameless men.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus,

Make my life a vessel for Your love, so others may see You through me. May I live not for myself, but for the good of others. Help me to be selfless and have a servant heart the rest of my life.

Amen