Have you ever had someone ask you a question where the answer seemed so obvious that you thought to yourself, "Well duh, what do you think?"
In Matthew 5:6 Jesus asks such a question. Now in Jerusalem there was a pool called Bethesda.
Around the area sick people, blind, lame and paralyzed laid. And at a certain time an angel would come and stir up the water and whoever stepped into the water first would healed.
So in Chapter 5 of Matthew Jesus had come to the pool and encounters a man who had been sick for 38 years. When Jesus sees this man, Jesus asks the man, "Do you want to be healed".
I can imagine this guy thinking, "Well duh, I have been sick for thirty-eight, I come here every day waiting for my opportunity to get into the pool but someone always gets there before me. What do you mean, do I want to be healed, why do you think I'm doing this?"
The next thing that Jesus tells the man, is not "Oh ok, carry on, continue what you have been doing and someday it might work". No Jesus gives him something new to do. Jesus tells the man to, "Rise, take up your bed and walk".
Obviously what the man had been doing, hoping that someday he would make it to the pool, was not working. It was time for a new approach. Rise, take up your bed and walk. So what did the man do? Did he think about it? Did he think, no, this is how everyone does it, so I will just wait until I have my chance. Did he think, "you know I've been like this for 38 years, what if it doesn't work? Will I make a fool of myself, if I try and fall?" Did he search for a reason, an excuse not to do what Jesus said? The Bible tells us that, "Immediately the man was made well, took his bed, and walked."
So what about us, what about me? What question is Jesus asking us? Do you want to be healthy? Do you want to get out of debt? Do you want to lose weight? Do you want a better marriage?
Do you...., you fill in the blank.
And has Jesus not already told us what to do next? A new approach? Something that not everyone is doing? Why are we fighting him? Which is harder, drinking water, exercising, saying your sorry, making a phone call.... Or getting up and walking after 38 years?
I am praying that we will all give up the excuses and just start immediately doing what Jesus asks us to do.
Can you imagine how the man that Jesus encountered that day, how his life was changed forever? How would your life change if you did what Jesus is asking you to do today? Jesus only wants what's best for you, but if the man had chosen to just stay where he was, he never would have been healed.
So again, do you want to be made well? The choice is yours, the choice in mine.
Please write me and let me know what question in Jesus asking you and what is He telling you to do?
I would love to pray for you.
