Read John 5:1-14
Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want 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 5:2-9)
Dear God,
There are so many situations in this world where we just get stuck. We rely on ourselves and others, make excuses and begin to believe that our situations will never change. Sometimes our situations even begin to become comfortable as they are all we know. What happens after this man is healed? For thirty-eight years, he had laid there day after day wallowing in his own self-pity just waiting for someone else to do for him what he thinks he cannot do for himself. Jesus asked him, “Do you want to get well?” Jesus realized that his healing was the easy part. The miracle restores his body, but now he must complete the hard work of restoring his soul by following Jesus, helping others, working, being a productive person and not sinning. What a change from laying on a mat for thirty-eight years! What is my situation? Where am I stuck? Let me hear Your voice today say, “Do you want to get well?” Allow me to embrace Your healing power, watch my situation change and then work to glorify Your name for the rest of my days.
I love You, Papa.
Suggested song: “Take It All Back” by Tauren Wells, We The Kingdom & Davies