Jesus asks us the same question that he asked the man at the pool. “Do you want to get well?”
The Gospels are full of accounts of Jesus healing people. Most often, they sought him out and asked for healing. Sometimes friends or family would seek him out and ask for healing for a sick family member or friend. Jesus usually told them that their faith had healed them.
Over and over we find that faith produces miracles, but miracles don’t produce faith. You have to believe first.
In the Gospel of John, chapter five, there’s a healing story that’s a little different from the others. There was a pool where many sick people, blind, lame and paralyzed would lie around. The story went, that when the water was stirred, the first one in would be healed.
Jesus went up to the pool and came across a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. It doesn’t appear that the man had any idea who Jesus was. Jesus simply asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
That’s a powerful question from the Son of God. The man told him he had no one to help him into the water and someone always got there ahead of him.
He gave Jesus an excuse, albeit a good one, if he couldn’t walk, how could he make it to the pool? But, it was still and excuse. Of course he was thinking of the healing power of the water, not of the Messiah standing in front of him.
How often do we make the same mistake? Jesus seeks us out everyday with the same question, “Do you want to get well?” We offer excuses.
Much of the anger and bitterness we carry around comes from old hurts, places deep in our hearts that need to heal. We sometimes carry around pain, guilt or shame for years and years because we aren’t willing to answer Jesus’ question.
“Do you want to get well?” Do we? Do we want to live in joy and abundance? Do we want peace? Do we want to pick up that mat that we have been glued to and walk? If the answer is yes, then we have to say yes to Jesus. We have to give him the anger, hurt, and disappointments of the past. We have to forgive.
It’s not easy. Healing can be grueling work. Think about it. If you are healing from the flu, you have to rest a lot. You have to take medicine. You have to drink lots of fluids. It’s work. But, then you heal and it feels so good to feel good.
Healing the heart is the same. We have to say yes to Jesus. Then we have to give him all of that baggage that we no longer need. We have to pray. We have to trust and listen and obey. We have to read God’s word and wait for His direction.
Too often, we have become comfortable on our mats and we may find it easier to leave well enough alone. But, if we truly want to get well and be well, then we have to answer yes and do the work and then we can throw down our mats and walk or dance and skip, the choice is ours.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂