Enter Wild: A 5-Day Devotional by Carlos WhittakerSample

“Enter Now!”

Today’s Scripture is about a man who was blind for decades. When Jesus showed up, you would assume that He could have just healed this man. But that’s not what Jesus did. No. Jesus actually asked the man if he wanted to be healed! Why would Jesus have done this?

Maybe the man didn’t actually want to get well after all. Maybe he had grown so comfortable in his affliction that he wouldn’t know what to do if he were suddenly well. Maybe his identity was rooted in his afflic­tion. I don’t know what his reasoning was. But I do know that so many times I have grown comfortable in my affliction. 

When Jesus asked the man the question about whether he wanted to be healed, the man did not immediately say yes. He said, “...I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up...”  (ESV) All Jesus got was an excuse. 

I read this, and I think how many times I have made excuses for my half-abundant life instead of just stepping into the fullness God has for me. How many times has Jesus asked me if I want to be made well and I am so comfortable on my mat thinking it would take too much work to trust that God can heal me? 

Oh, friends, Jesus wants you to be well. But we have to want it! We can’t just settle and endure whatever afflictions life throws at us. We must want a life of abundance in order to actually receive it.

Like the man at the pool of Bethesda, for us, the only way to truly have abundance is to stand up, pick up our mats, and walk.

If I could sit down with you today, I would look you in the eyes and tell you that you can experience all God has for you right now. Not in five years when you have paid the penance for what­ever sin you think is keeping you from Wild. Not in two months when you’re feeling better or you’ve overcome whatever ailment you have. No. Right now. 

Right now you have the opportunity to Enter Wild.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, 

Will You show me desires in my heart that I did not even know existed? Lord, will You revive desires of my past that I have let lie dormant? 

Explode revival in every facet of my life. I ask for miracles. I ask for signs. I ask for wonders. Show me Your face, Lord. And may I in turn show it to my world.

Help me Enter Wild. Amen.