The Man Who Has Made Me Well Said, "Pick Up Your Mat And Walk". ~John 5:11

Remission is a pretty awesome word for someone who is battling cancer.  Brad and I had the privilege to talk, laugh, and pray last night with two gentlemen from our church who are in the heat of that battle.  One of the men is a family friend and our children have grown up together.  We took him superhero shirts for each day of the week when he started his chemo treatments.  His hospital room has a view of one side of Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI.  He said one thing he learned that he thought was so cool was that the men who wash the windows for Mott dress up like superheroes and basically repel the building while they clean the windows....isn't that AWESOME?! Imagine Spiderman or Batman repelling outside your window as a child....even now, I wanna see that! It reminds me of something that could have been in the movie Patch Adams.  

Anyway, remission....sorry I get going on tangents sometimes. Remission for people battling cancer is such a relief....it means that tests show no signs or symptoms of cancer in the body at that time.  Our friend, Chris, is at this weird place right now where his first round of chemo is complete, but his test readings keep going up and down and there has been some debate between his doctors as to whether he is actually in remission or not.  They are wondering if a second round of chemo or other medical procedures will be necessary....there is a lot of waiting and testing to see how his body will respond in hopes of remission.  Remission from cancer is awesome, but it is not a 100% guarantee forever because our flesh is too weak to make guarantees like that, right?  I'm not saying that to be negative...just to make the contrast that God was talking to me about on the ride home.

Remission of sin is completely different....it is eternal....it is complete freedom from bondage.  If we are Christians, this truth for us, in us, and through us....should fill us with a joy that is even greater than that of a cancer patient experiencing the moment they hear the words...."your cancer is in remission"....that hit home last night for me as we prayed for these two men.  

I certainly was convicted on the ride back to Parma.  It reminded me of when Jesus was trying to make the point of which was easier to say to the paralytic..."take up your mat and walk" or " your sins are forgiven"....why don't we GET that?  Why don't I desire that more than anything else and live in that joy continuously?

Whereas doctors can work to remove cancer from the body via medicine and the wisdom God has granted them, they cannot replace that void with LIFE like GOD does when HE removes our SIN....He gifts us with something to completely fill us...Sometimes He does say, "Take up your mat and walk"...(and, by the way....it's okay to still be carrying your mat on the Lord's Day because it testifies to His goodness and glorifies Him), but He ALWAYS gives us the greater healing prepared for us in Jesus Christ and delivered by The Holy Spirit.