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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Today we wrap up our study of godly companionship by looking at another element of true godly companionship. This week we have talked about how godly companionship is present, sacrificial, uncomfortable and confrontational. Today we're going to cover this. Godly companionship is active. Godly companionship is active Now. Joby is going to cover the first part of Mark 2 in tremendous detail next week, so we won't steal any of his thunder today. Jobi is going to cover the first part of Mark 2 in tremendous detail next week, so we won't steal any of his thunder today. But I do want to prepare you for that by locking in on the first four verses of Mark 2, and I'll read them here. And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home and many were gathered there so that there was no more room, not even at the door, and he was preaching the word to them. And they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 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.

Speaker 2: 1:18

Now, as men, many of our modern relationships or connections are very passive. There are, you know, a few fellas that you know you'll go to lunch with on occasion. These are guys from work. You know you got a group of guys that you always play Call of Duty with. Or you know you have some buddies that you'll say what's up to at the gym, but it's all very surface level, super laid back, you know, always at an arm's distance. That's not what we see in Mark 2. We see a group of four men that are willing to destroy a stranger's house, right, in order to get their buddy to the feet of a rabbi that they think might be able to help him. And we can see from the text of Mark 2 that these men are actually convinced that he will help their buddy. Now, these men are not passive. They don't seem like they would be easily deterred, right. They are active in how they approach this situation. They are active in getting their friend the help he needs. They are active in their godly companionship. Again, let's go back to what we see these men and what we see them do. They made a hole in a stranger's roof in order to lower their friend down.

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But we need to talk about the roof a little bit, the typical roof during the first century in Israel was thick and pretty complicated, not easy to get through. Okay, people and furniture would often be on the tops of these roofs, so they had to be sturdy enough to not just cave in. The roofs had huge wooden beams that would brace on top of the walls of the structure. On top of the beams would be a layer of branches or thatch that would create a framework, and then there would be a very thick layer of mud or clay that was mixed with straw, which would create a solid and watertight surface, and many of these roofs would have an additional layer of plaster or something similar for more waterproofing.

Speaker 2: 3:05

So ultimately, you could not passively get through a roof like this. Also, there is no record of these men having any tools with them during this process, of four men that are using their hands to dig their way through a thick roof to make an opening just big enough for their paralyzed friend to be lowered through Active, not passive. So to wrap up this week's consideration, I've got to ask you this Do you have a group of men in your life that are present, sacrificial, uncomfortable, confrontational and active? Do they have those elements? For some of you, that is a haunting question and, to be honest, I hope it does haunt you. That just means it's time for you to fix it.

Speaker 1: 4:02

Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.