Do you really want to get well?
John 5:1-9
After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.
Last Saturday, this was the message at bible study and two days ago this was also the message I was listening to by Creflo Dollar. I believe God is trying to teach me something from this and He is asking me the same question he asked that man, "Do you want to be made well?"
Sometimes our biggest disease isn't what appears in our body. Instead, this disease hides in our hearts. "Do I want to get well?" That's a much harder question to answer than meets the eye. I might have to change. I might have to give up my excuses. I might have to adapt to a different lifestyle. I might have to give up blaming others for my problems. I might have to take some responsibility for my own condition.
As the man shows by the end of the story, he wasn't ready to take responsibility for anything. What about me? Do I really want to get well, both spiritually and physically?
"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live!" Deuteronomy 30:19 [NLT]
After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.
Last Saturday, this was the message at bible study and two days ago this was also the message I was listening to by Creflo Dollar. I believe God is trying to teach me something from this and He is asking me the same question he asked that man, "Do you want to be made well?"
Sometimes our biggest disease isn't what appears in our body. Instead, this disease hides in our hearts. "Do I want to get well?" That's a much harder question to answer than meets the eye. I might have to change. I might have to give up my excuses. I might have to adapt to a different lifestyle. I might have to give up blaming others for my problems. I might have to take some responsibility for my own condition.
As the man shows by the end of the story, he wasn't ready to take responsibility for anything. What about me? Do I really want to get well, both spiritually and physically?
"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live!" Deuteronomy 30:19 [NLT]
posted by ENS at 12:50 AM
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