The paralyzed man in Mark chapter two was forgiven by God, but he was still captive to his affliction. He was relieved of all his sins but still impotent. He knew Christ as a relief but not as a resource!
It is not enough to be forgiven. Christ's part is to clear us before God, but our part is to get up and walk! We must go beyond relief from sins into the freedom of his resources.
“Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins…I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” (Mark 2:9-11).
That man did not get up on his own strength; Christ imparted his strength to him. Without Christ, we can do nothing. We can overcome only through his strength and the power of the Holy Spirit!
Christ was saying to this man, “I am going to make you an example of my power over sin. Where you were the weakest, you will become the strongest. The thing that made you a prisoner, you will pick up and carry. You will overcome the very thing that held you down.”
We must live in the full power and victory of a life free from the bondage of sin. We all know our weakness, places where we are vulnerable. Satan tells us that we will always be weak at that point, and one day be overcome by it. Not so! By his glorious power, God can make us strongest at our weakest point. That is what the scripture means when it says that his strength is made perfect in our weakness.
What hinders you? An obstinate sin, a weakness, an unresolved inner controversy? Whatever it is, it must go. You can no longer be chained to a bed of failure. It is all accomplished by faith in God’s promises. The Lord wants to get you up out of that bed! He will give you all the power you need to overcome and walk in total deliverance.