Do you want to be healed?

Scripture: John 5:1-9

I've been reading through John recently in my quiet time, and at first I was a little intimidated with the idea of reading through one of the most famous Gospels in the Bible. Only because there are so many great stories and lessons to be learned and I know of people who have come to Christ simply by reading this amazing book. So, given all the hype, I was a little intimidated to start reading it - as if I wasn't ready to receieve that amount of Jesus yet.

I finally took the plunge and began reading a chapter a day along with my other things. Let me tell you - what once was intimidating to me has now become one of my favorite places to read. I LOVE this book! It has such relateable stories and lessons to learn, and if you read it in the right translation (let's be honest - it's going to be harder to grasp in the KJV version), you'll find so many nuggets of Truth in this book.

One story I found very interesting was in John 5:1-9. This is the story of the lame man being healed at the pool of Bethesda. Bethesda is a Hebrew term meaning "house of mercy" or "house of grace", and just as the name implies, the pool was a place of healing for the lame, blind, and paralyzed. The pool would be stirred by an angel daily, and tradition tells us the first person to enter the pool would be completley healed. It would make sense that the pool had 5 colonnades (columns with roofs) for the lame, blind, and paralyzed to sit under as they waited for healing.

Jesus was in Jerusalem for a Jewish feast, and He went and visited the people at this pool. He found a man there that had been sick for thirty-eight years. Thirty-eight years. I'm sure some of you can relate to this man's plight. That is such a long time to wait for healing. This man was waiting for healing along with everyone else, and what made his situation difficult was that he didn't have anyone to help him into the pool like the others did. Imagine the race to get into the pool when the waters were stirred. Tradition tells us that the first person in the pool was completely healed. I'm sure people had family members rushing their loved ones to the pool so they could be the first one in and healed. Wouldn't you do that too for someone you loved? I know I would.

Jesus knew all of this when he found the man, and the first question we see Him ask is," Do you want to be healed?" I remember sitting at my table reading this and being blown away by that question. At the time, I had some things I was working through and needed healing from and it seemed like Jesus asked me this question directly.

Do you want to be healed?

Think deeply about something you're struggling with and ask yourself "Do I want to be healed?" I had to ask myself this too. I had some habitual sins I was really struggling with, but I never showed a spirit of repentance for these things. I always found myself ignoring the Spirit when He would try to help me conquer these things in moments of temptation, and then I would run back to Jesus once I was finished with the temptation begging for forgiveness. Of course He forgave me - He always will and He always welcomes me back. But I never asked myself if I really wanted healing. Wanting the benefits of healing but not the healing itself is a real thing. How you know that's where your heart lies is if you find yourself in situations like mine: you want to be healed, but deep down you don't want to let go of the thing you're needing healing from. And that was apparent in my actions. I did nothing on my side to prepare for the healing. I simply tried to keep the avenue of temptation available while running back to the Master when I was sick and ailing from my sin.

In the story, I noticed how He didn't heal the man without his consent first. This is an important concept to grasp, reader. Jesus wants to heal us and save us from ourselves, but He always waits for an invitation from us first. He respects us tremendously and never forces His actions on our heart. He waits patiently for an invitation to come in and work. So it makes sense that out of respect for the man He would ask him first if he wanted to be healed.

I brought this up to my mentor recently, and he found something interesting in the man's response. When asked the question, the man's response was "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." (John 5:7). My mentor brought up that it was interesting that the man's immediate response to the question was an excuse for not being healed sooner. He, like us, ignored the question and found an excuse to not be healed instead. How many times are we coming up with excuses for why we can't be healed? How many times are we looking at the circumstances of our problems rather than the Answer to them?

I remember reading this story and asking myself if I was ready to receive healing. Did I truly want to be healed? Did I really want to let go of the thing that was causing me to need healing in the first place? Or was I just trying to keep a foot on both sides of the fence without having to make the sacrifice of letting go of one thing so I could have the other?

You'd be surprised how many times we aren't receiving healing from something because deep deep down the thing we want healing for happens to be our "comfort problem." It's a way we can still connect to the old man God is trying transform us out of. I know that was the issue for me - these sins I was seeking healing from were hidden connections to the man God was trying to change. Connections that worked in my old life, but could not stay around for my new one.

I'm still not completely free from these habitual sins, but my attitude sure has changed in viewing them.

Here's some things I reccommend doing when you're preparing for healing:

1. Do some soul searching to see if you're ready to let go of the problem.

2. Ask for the right viewpoint of the problem.

3. Make a battle plan for upcoming temptations.

4. Worship

5. Be patient

6. Progress not perfection

These are things that are helping me in my walk with Christ, and I hope they help you too.

Thanks for reading.