“Do you want to get well?”
As I was reading through John 5 and came across these words that Jesus spoke to the man lying at the pool of Bethesda, they intrigued me. Scripture says in Luke that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks…so just as we can tell a lot about a person based on what comes out of their mouth, I believe we can tell a lot about Jesus based on what is recorded in red letters.
By His word, He was asking the man did he want help? See, this man’s eyes were so fixed on the pool and the stirring waters…just as so many others at the pool. They were looking toward this water to heal them when it was stirred up, yet healing was standing right in front them! After Jesus asked the lame man His question, he was still concerned with someone going ahead of him and no one being able to get him there before the stirring ceased. Healing was within an arms reach, but this man still was focused on getting to that pool.
Jesus then and Jesus now wants to heal you. He wants to help you.
But, isn’t that lame man just like us?
We may not lay by a pool hoping to be healed, but we spend a lot of time focusing on everything else that we think will bring us joy, peace, comfort, healing or provision…when Jesus is right here. He’s always within reach. He just have to take our eyes of the pool of Bethesda and put them on the Fountain of Living Waters. I am not sure why Jesus chose this particular man at Bethesda that day, but I do know he was willing to listen to Him and also follow what he said to do, which was “pick up his mat and walk.” Do we look to him, listen and follow?
Do you feel a little hopeless these days? Are you figuratively sitting beside a pool of Bethesda waiting on the waters to be stirred, just hoping that the favor of the waters falls upon you? Are your eyes focused on the same things this world is waiting on to help them?
Convenience.
Dreams.
Money.
Fame.
Love.
Worldly Pleasures.
In todays world, these are just stirred up waters of our life.
Jesus simply says, “Do you want to get well?”
If you do, just fix your eyes on Him, get up and walk! He always makes a way and there is hope that can be found in the Savior that far surpasses some stirred up waters.
Jesus is Living Water for your thirsty soul.
