Usually when we go to the doctor we are given some type of pill because we are sick. The doctor says, “Take this medicine for 2 weeks and you will be well”. We take the pill without much thought and proceed on our way. The doctor does not ask us, “Do you want to get well?”. It is assumed that you do since you are in their office.
In John 5:1-15 we find Jesus asking a man who had been an invalid for 38 years a very interesting question. “Do you want to get well?” Unlike our doctors, He does not just assume that the man wants to get well. The man replied by saying that he had no one to help him into the pool to receive healing. After all of those years of waiting to get into the pool, he had little hope of ever being healed.
It can be painful and scary to admit that we want to get well. Becoming well means we must face what is making us sick. To come to Jesus for healing means we have to give up what we’ve been holding onto, which sometimes is our very life as we know it. It’s easy to get comfortable in the mire and mess that we’ve lived in for so many years.
But, Jesus had compassion on the man and healed him on the spot. “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” [John 5:8] In the scriptures, Jesus often healed people’s physical illnesses to lead them to believe He was the Messiah. The one who would heal them of their real illnesses of the heart. Now, the man had a choice. Would he believe Jesus and embrace the healing He offered, or would he choose to stay as he was?
This question of healing is not just for unbelievers, but for believers as well. After salvation we still have old ways of thinking that were programmed into us by people and circumstances along life’s way. God wants to reveal the lies and false identities, but do we want to cooperate with Him? The question is still, “Do you want to get well?” We can sit under all the sermons and teachings in the world and still stay as new born babes drinking milk if we are not willing to stand up and walk in the revelation Christ is giving to us.
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, Information + Application = Transformation. Sometimes it seems as though we want to be changed by osmosis. We go to church, listen to a great sermon and give someone a high five saying, “What a great lesson that was!”. And we never give it a second thought. We continue to go through life wondering why we are still dealing with the same problems over and over again.
We have to be willing to be made whole. God’s offer to us is always on the table. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30] All we have to do is say yes and decide that we want to take him up on his offer.
All of our hangups, addictions, frustrations, etc. are tools in the hands of God to make us sick and miserable. The sick man in John 5, for example, had some excuses of his own. He was blaming others that he was not well. God wants us to exchange our sicknesses for His healing, and it might be simpler than we think. You see, in Christ we already have everything we are looking for. All of the love, acceptance, worth and security we strive after are found in Him. “His divine power has given to us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness”. [2 Peter 1:3] Just as we said yes to him at salvation, Christ wants us to keep saying yes to him daily as he works in us to heal our hurts.
How about you? Are you struggling to make sense of life? Do you sense God asking you if you want to get well? Take a step of faith and say yes to his offer. At Crossway, we are here to help you along your journey to wholeness. We’d love to talk with you! Give us a call at 864-224-5557 or click on the counseling button below.