Reading: John 5:1-17

'Crippling Sin'

"A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, "Do you wish to get well?" vs 5-6

The multitude who gathered at this pool without a doubt had some real physical issues. Out of all the people waiting for the angel of the Lord to stir up the waters, Jesus comes up and engages one man, "Who had been ill for thirty-eight years". Jesus asks, "Do you wish to get well?" I wonder why he asked this question. Jesus knew, "That he had already been a long time in that condition". The man's answer was not a quick, "Of course I want to get well"! But his response to Jesus was, "Sir, I have no man to put me in the pool". Where were his friends and family? Had he alienated them and now finds himself all alone and possibly bitter? None-the-less, Jesus heals him and slips away from the crowd. Finding the man later in the day in the temple, He tells him, "You have become well, do not sin anymore". You see, although Jesus is concerned about disease in our physical body, it's not the illness of our exterior bodies that cripples or hinders the spiritual man. Jesus points out, that it's the sin in our hearts that prevent us from living a life of wholeness.

Lord, your Word I have hidden in my heart so that I might not sin against you.

Still Lord, I ask you to search my Heart and remove the things that are not pleasing to You.