May—Cheerfulness and Contentment

Be of Good Cheer Because He Has Forgiven My Sins, May 1 Behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. Matthew 9:2. This paralytic had lost all hope of recovery. His disease was the result of a sinful life, and his sufferings were embittered by remorse.... His great desire was relief from the burden of sin. He longed to see Jesus, and receive the assurance of forgiveness and peace with heaven. Then he would be content to live or to die, according to God’s will.... He besought his friends to carry him on his bed to Jesus, and this they gladly undertook to do. But so dense was the crowd that had assembled in and about the house where the Saviour was, that it was impossible for the sick man and his friends to reach Him.... Again and again the bearers of the paralytic tried to push their way through the crowd, but in vain. The sick man looked about him in unutterable anguish. How could he relinquish hope, when the longed-for help was so near? At his suggestion his friends bore him to the top of the house, and breaking up the roof, let him down at the feet of Jesus. The discourse was interrupted. The Saviour looked upon the mournful countenance, and saw the pleading eyes fixed upon Him. Well He knew the longing of that burdened soul. It was Christ who brought conviction to his conscience when he was yet at home.... It was Christ who had drawn the sufferer to Himself. Now, in words that fell like music on the listener’s ear, the Saviour said, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” The burden of guilt rolls from the sick man’s soul. He cannot doubt.... Hope takes the place of despair, and joy of oppressive gloom. The man’s physical pain is gone, and his whole being is transformed. Making no further request, he lay in peaceful silence, too happy for words.—The Ministry of Healing, 73-76.