Is Your Faith Evident To Christ?

      And when He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. And being unable to get to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
                                                Mark 2:1-5 NASB

     These men had a desperate need, and were desperate in the measures they took to see Jesus. What would have happened if they would have been discouraged as they looked upon the crowd in and around the house where Jesus was teaching? What might have happened if they would have given up in despair and went home? I imagine that their friend would not have been healed, or forgiven of his sins.
     You see, these men had a fervent faith that refused to take no for an answer. Their determination arose from their absolute confidence in God and His goodness, and drove them to do whatever had to be done, to see Jesus. In this case, they went up on the roof, tore out a section, and lowered their friend down in front of Jesus. They did what was necessary, instead of giving up.
     Notice that Jesus saw their faith. I understand that God knows what is in our hearts, and He knows if we have faith or not, but it is also true that if our faith is not evident by action, it is non existent (James 2:18).
     In the same way that these men were determined to see Jesus, we too must be determined in our pursuit of Him. We must also refuse to take no for an answer, being driven by a holy desperation, a fervor to know and experience God in all His fullness in our lives.
     If true faith exists in our hearts, it will compel us to seek Christ (Hebrews 11:6). We will do what is necessary to run the race with endurance. We will lay aside every hindrance, every besetting sin (Hebrews 12:1). Like Paul, we will count all things as loss for the sake of Knowing Christ (Phil 3:8).
     Too many professing believers have a shallow faith. We seem to be motivated with a microwave mentality today. We want everything quick and easy. We expect our Christian life to be the same way. We want salvation, but no self denial, no crucifixion of the old man, no death to self. We want God's blessing, His healing, His care and guidance in our lives, but we are often unwilling to seek Him out in persistent prayer. We often think that faith is an instant thing that does not need to do very much; in fact, if we put out any persistent effort, we are taught that it is not faith.
     This is all wrong. Jesus, in teaching us to pray with a determined faith, questions if He will find this kind of faith on the earth at His return (Luke 18:8). It is evident that many people have a shallow faith that gives up easily. What we are called to is to persevere with an unshakeable faith; a faith that takes desperate measures to lay hold of Christ!