Good morning! It is Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022. I wonder if healing begins in our souls before it occurs in our bodies. Here, Jesus confronts a person that needs more backbone and less wish-bone. He was “sick” and had remained in that condition for a long time. The Bible uses the word “astheneia,” meaning an “invalid” or someone who is made weak by a past injury. In addition, we also get the word “anesthetized” from it as well … the state of being numb to something. I wonder if this man was numbed to a deeper problem that was injuring him? Read on…
Today's Reading:
Nahum 1,2,3; John 5
Scripture
“A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, ‘Do you wish to get well?’ ‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.” (John 5:5-9)
Observation
It seemed like such an obvious question! I mean, why else would he be sitting by the pool waiting for the stirring of the waters? Yet, Jesus needed to ask it before He healed the man. “Do you wish to get well?” Today, He may be asking that of us: “Do you wish to get well? And if you do get well, are you ready to live, think and act differently?”
Are you ready to let go of old ailments and stand up? Ready to toss those diseased mindsets, that limp in your personality, a lingering infection caused by last year’s offense? For some, these limps give “identity,” a “right to be angry,” a justification for their disposition, or a motivation for their cause. We can lay on these “mats” for years!
But you see … people who are well don’t act like sick people. On the contrary, they act and live very differently.
Application
To be healed means we must be willing to give up our excuses once and for all. No longer can we say it’s someone else’s fault: our parents, our nationality, our job, education, or our geography. So, Jesus asks: “Are you willing to be healed? No, not just when the water of circumstance begins to stir:
- Once I move
- Once he (or she, or my boss) changes
- Once I get paid more
We must be willing to stand up and cooperate with His instruction, work our limbs again - stretch our patience, extend our love, and do what He told us to do in the beginning—no more sitting by the pool and wishing that someone else would make the first move. No more waiting for that break: that jackpot in Vegas, a settlement to come in and make everything alright, others to get their act together. Only Jesus can do that. Are you willing … really willing to be healed?
Prayer
Jesus, You are willing. You said, “Whosoever may come.” So, the question is not whether You are willing...am I willing? The question is not: is Jesus accessible? The question is: am I accessible to You? I am willing, Father, and I make myself accessible to You!
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