Healed by Jesus Намуна

Do We Want Healing?

In John 5, Jesus was in Jerusalem for a Jewish festival. Upon His arrival, He walked by a pool where many blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying. Tradition taught that when the waters would stir and rise up, an angel was visiting the pool. And whoever was the first to get in it after the stirring would be healed of their infirmities. There was a man there who’d been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him waiting for the waters to stir, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6 NIV) 

Let’s stop right here and state the obvious. Jesus knows everything, and He asked a man who’d been unwell for 38 years if he wanted to get better. We don’t know exactly what was wrong with this man, but he clearly couldn’t get to the pool on his own. And for Jesus to ask him if he wanted to be well seems like a rhetorical question. Of course he wants healing, or he wouldn’t be there, right? Since Jesus never spoke out of turn or made mistakes, He had a purpose in His question to the disabled man. Maybe Jesus asked him because He wanted the man to really ask himself, “Do I want to be well?” 

Sometimes we grow accustomed and comfortable to how things are in our lives. We get used to them, even the bad, and say we want change but don’t actually do something to change. 

We say we want to be healthier, but we don’t adjust our diets. 
We say we desire a strong marriage, but we don’t invest in our spouse.
We say our children are our priorities, but we don’t engage in conversation.

Maybe we all need to ask ourselves what Jesus asked this man: Do I want to be well? If we do want to be healed from _____________, are we willing to do the things that God is calling us to do to get that healing? Yes, Jesus provides healing that’s on the spot and instant. We see it all throughout the Bible. Let’s believe Him for that in our lives, too. But, there are times where we have to play a part in our own healing. How bad do we want this? Do we dislike our current state or are we comfortably uncomfortable in it?

These are hard questions to ask ourselves, because they require a brutally honest mentality. Should God come in with His majestic wand and completely heal us in a moment? If He does, praise Him for that! But, if He requires some work on our part, let’s make the effort He’s calling us to make.