Do You Want To Get Well? …Hello Hump Day Readers. The title of this devotion is what we all need to ask ourselves, “Do I want to get well?” Sounds crazy but let me share a few short stories from this last week.

1) We have a couple that come each month but we had not seen them until August. We told them we missed them and then they let us know what was happening: he fell and broke his hip and his wife of 71 years was just diagnosed with dementia. He was doing great after his surgery but his wife refuses to believe the diagnosis. 2) My cousin has been in remission from cancer for 18 years. My mom called me to let me know his cancer has come back all through his body and, at 41 years old, he is going into hospice. His words were “I put this in God’s hands.” 3) A new camper came in. He’s 27 and he is disabled but his outlook of life was incredible. He said “Cyndy, “it’s not easy to be disabled but if you want to get well, and do the best you can in your life you gotta keep going on.”

The question “do you want to get well?” reminded me of Jesus and the paralytic man. In John 5:109 [MSG] he asks that question: “Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special Jewish festival. In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches. In Aramaic it is called Bethzatha. This pool is near the Sheep Gate. Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some of them were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed. One of the men lying there had been sick for 38 years. Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been sick for a very long time. So he asked him, “Do you want to be well?” The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the water when it starts moving. I try to be the first one into the water. But when I try, someone else always goes in before I can.” Then Jesus said, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Immediately the man was well. He picked up his mat and started walking.”

What a question to ask of this man who had lain beside the pool for 38 years! But Jesus had more for this man, and he was asking a deeper question which was—did this man want to be healed completely—not just physically? It’s easy to grow accustomed to our limitations, to the ways we need healing. We are often defined by our wounds and after quite a few years it’s easy to make allowances for those wounds. Many people must give up because they are in a rut and they don’t want to pay the price of trying to change. And that includes money or just giving up because you don’t care anymore.

Has Jesus asked you those same questions? We all have. I know Jesus has asked me this question because I can feel it in my heart. When we cry out, Jesus asks us: “My child, do you want to let go of the past, including forgiving those who wounded you, trying to do better with your health, etc.? How would you answer?

Well, I would hope we all would say “Yes” but in our minds we still have that fear of saying it because we’re not sure. Let’s go back to the man at the pool. When the man first answered, he told Jesus of his limitations and Jesus ignored his answer and told him to get up, pick up his mat, and walk. Why? Jesus wanted this man to believe in him, to let go of those limitations and get up and walk!

“Bethesda” means “House of Mercy” or “House of Grace.” When Jesus healed the man, He ministered both mercy and grace. When Jesus heals us, he extends the same. So, we ask one more time, “Do we want to get well? Is it only for our limitations or do we truly want to be healed spiritually? Are we willing to let Jesus do a deeper work in our lives! For me, I would say to Jesus “YES! I want to be well and I want to be healed IN EVERY PART OF MY HEART, SOUL AND MIND! It’s our choice so choose wisely. AMEN.