What Do You Want?

“When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’” John 5:6 

In God’s beautiful goodness, perfection, and fairness, He created man and woman in His image, but He never forced them into a relationship with them. He does not force Himself where He is not wanted. He gives every person a choice. Each one must choose to either be in a relationship with Him, on His terms, or reject Him. When Jesus met this man at the pool of Bethesda, who had likely lost all hope after being paralyzed for 38 years, He asked him one question that got straight to the heart, “Do you WANT to be healed?” Jesus asks us the same. 

Reflection: How bad do we WANT Him? Are we desperate to cling to Him as our only hope for salvation? Have we seen how offensive our sin may seem to a pure, holy God? Do we weep over our sin and that of others? 

Jesus also said in Matthew 9:12 “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” He hung out with the despised in society: the tax collectors, the outcasts, the prostitutes. When people met Him, they were changed and followed Him, or offended and rejected, scorned, and spurned Him. They could not stand the truth and tried to shut it out by killing Him. Even in death, they could not keep Him down since He raised from the dead! 

May we realize that we are the sick, those who have come to the end of our rope, realized that nothing we do in our own power will work. Only God’s way works and brings true joy, peace and contentment.

Heart check: How’s your joy tank? Are you living at peace with God and others to the best of your ability? If you’re not experiencing this freedom, nothing, no church, no program, no brand, no purchase, no job, no person, no child, no partner, no style, no body type, no health state, no acceptance by others will make that feeling last. The only way to shed that nagging feeling of dissatisfaction, emptiness and anxiety is to get on your knees, laid out before God and cry out from your heart, “God, forgive me, a sinner.” Like the tax collector who used to swindle and steal from people in Luke 18. May we not be found to be pharisees that are good and spiritually prideful, but not walking in full obedience and freedom. Sin quenches the Spirit and steals all joy and peace. Repentance is the solution. Then turn from what you were doing and walk in obedience. Read His Word daily. He is life. He is the Word. Seek Him in it, and He promises that you will find Him when you seek Him with your whole heart.