Do you want to get well?

Imagine this scene with me.

A 38-year-old man is lying on the ground beside pool of water. He’s been taught since childhood that if the waters of this pool stir, and he makes it in first, he will be healed. Every day of his adult life he has come to this pool to lie beside it. Every day, there is a tiny glimmer of hope that today will be the day he is restored. One day, there is a commotion by the pool. Ailing bodies groan and move and push toward the water. There are splashes and shouts. But the man’s condition is so frail that he barely shifts his weight before others have made it in the water. For another day, his hopes have been dashed and discouragement takes its place.

One day a religous teacher walks by. He looks and that man and asks, “Do you want to get well?”

John 5:6-9

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,

Imagine what was going on in the mind of this crippled man. His entire life he’d heard people talk about the pool at Bethesda. If only he could be the first in the waters when they stirred, he’d be healed. At least, that’s what everyone said. But, his condition made it impossible for him to get into the water.

The ailing man heard Jesus question and responded with his evidence. You can almost hear the frustration in his voice when he described his plight. “I have no one to help me,” was his cry. His response could have been, “Why else do you think I’m down here every day?”

When Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed, he explained everything he’d done to try and get well. But Jesus wasn’t asking for what he’d done in the past, he was asking about the man’s desire today. “Do you want to get well?”

Today, Jesus asks me that same question.

• Do you want to leave behind your selfishness?
• Do you want to give up your life and follow me?
• Are you more interested in my name than your own?
• Are you willing to trade your comfort for my purposes?
• Are you going to have difficult conversations and speak the truth even when it will hurt?

God has questions for all of us. What questions does he have for you?

How do you respond?

So often, our response is just like that of the man beside the pool. We list the evidence that we believe answers Jesus’ question. As I look at my questions I want to answer the following:

God, I’ve moved away from my hometown to a busy city to follow you. I work hard to provide for my family. I give my time serving causes that bear your name. I teach a class. I talk to people about you. Can’t you see that I really do want to follow you?

But Jesus doesn’t want my resume. He doesn’t want a list of my accomplishments or great things I’ve done. Actually, to him they are like filthy rags. He wants to know if I want to be well — today. He wants to know if I will accept HIS answer for wholeness, not my own.

Today, I want to challenge you to think of the answers that you would give to Jesus’ question, “Do you want to be well?” Once you’ve listed all of the proof that you want to be well, throw all those answers from the past away.

Answer Jesus by saying “Yes!” Commit your life to him daily. Seek Him through his Word. Talk to him in prayer. Listen and obey moment-by-moment.

Tomorrow, when he again asks if you want to be well, forget what you’ve done today and answer “yes” all over again.

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