Will You Be 38?
On our recent fall retreat, at Lake View Camp, our middle schoolers were challenged to contemplate the miracles of Jesus. There are 37 recorded miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. The most poignant may be when four friends bring a paralytic to Jesus for healing in Mark 2.
4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Jesus healed the paralytic when he saw the faith of his friends. Wow! Can we be like those friends? Can we be a part of the miracle God wants to do in someone else’s life? Ultimately, we were challenged to invite God to do miracle 38 in our lives. The miracle of new life, salvation, and sanctification talked about in Ephesians 2.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
As I reflected on the retreat worship time I wrote a series of Haiku. I’d like to share them all with you.
Thirty-seven times
Jesus showed His godly might
Are you thirty-eight?
He demonstrated
Power over creation
Health, and even life
Jairus’ daughter
Jesus wept, Lazarus lived
Widows only son
Dead in sin, BUT GOD!
Children under wrath, BUT GOD!
But God’s rich mercy
Steve Poole
Pastor of Youth & Young Adults
