In the gospel of John chapter 5 Jesus goes to the Pool of Bethesda in the city of Jerusalem. He sees many who are afflicted by various physical problems. He sees a man who had been immobilized by a serious illness for 38 years. He then goes up to the man and speaks to him. Jesus says to this crippled man: “Do you want to be made well?” Have you ever considered how strange that question sounds? Do you want to be well? Of course I want to be well, we all would shout in response. The man was looking for someone to put him in the water because tradition said that if you were first in line when an angel came and stirred up the water then you could get healed. Jesus then looked right into the crippled man’s eyes and said: “Rise, take up your bed and walk”.
Do you want to be well is not that strange of a question. The man had to abandon the thoughts about the angel and the water and listen to Jesus and then he had to obey what Jesus told him to do: “rise up and walk”. Many of us today may want to be well. We may want to get over an emotional scar, we may want to be free of bitterness, or we may want victory over some addiction. We may want to have a consistent walk with Jesus or desire to be a godly man or woman. However if we really want to be well, we must do something about it. A godly life will not just happen. We must study biblical principles, pray consistently and live carefully. If we want physical healing, along with fervent prayer we must seek medical treatment. If we want to be delivered from some powerful addiction it won’t just go away of its own accord. We must take the painful but necessary steps to gain our freedom.
Do you really want to be well? If you do, are you willing to listen to Jesus through His Word, and are you willing to obey those life giving instructions: “Rise up and walk”?