“Jesus asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’” John 5:6
“Excuses, excuses!” That’s a reply often heard from someone who wanted us to complete a task or fulfill a promise. The reality is many excuses can be centered on one of three things we never get back – 1) time, 2) opportunities, or 3) the spoken word. If we’re honest, each of us can say “I didn’t have enough time”, have let opportunities slip by, or blurted out words we regret leaving our lips.
There was a man in the Bible who Jesus encountered that had choices to make.
For 38 years the man spent his days laying near a pool of water believed to heal people of their ailments. The solution was you had to be the first one to get in after an “angel would go into the pool to stir up the water” (John 5:4).
Jesus walked by and looked at the man – not at his unkept appearance, downcast face, or muscles shriveled from years of inactivity. Jesus saw the promise for the man’s life. Jesus asked him, “do you want to get well?” A direct question requiring a simple answer. But he made excuses “I don’t have a man to put me in the pool...someone is always ahead of me...” (v.7).
This man was wasting the perfect time, missing a golden opportunity and spoke words he could regret. But, Jesus didn’t mock him or walk away. Instead, Jesus was moved with compassion and wanted the man to have a full and productive life. “Get up...pick up your mat and walk,” (v.8) Jesus told him. It wasn’t a secret formula, it just required a step of faith.
The man’s situation relates to us. We face issues every day, sometimes year after year, that need to be fixed. We aren’t waiting by a mystical pool hoping for provision. But we do have access to a Savior who seeks to provide and comfort us. Four years ago I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Sure it’s an inconvenience at times, and the world says there is no cure, just “disease management”. But I put my hope in the One who created the world and formed me in my mother’s womb. I believe that He can heal, and until He does He is holding me.
My prayer is that you won’t waste an opportunity to call out to Jesus to be saved from whatever you might be struggling with. He is only asking us to have faith to follow Him. Get up...and trust Him today.
To purchase items depicting God’s story, visit FOLLOWMEART.com