Ezekiel 47-48

1 John 3

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.” —John 5:8-9

Sometimes, God may not move in our life because we have made Him too small in our eyes. Other times, we want Him to move in a certain way in our lives without being open to the new thing that He might want to do. Yet, the God of enormity who spoke the universe into existence is the God of intimacy who knows our very needs and will seek us out. When we are ready, at the exact time, at the exact moment, He asks us the piercing question: “Do you want to get well?”

To the man who had been invalid for 38 years sitting by the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (John 5:8). What happened after? John tells us, “At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked” (John 5:9). After 38 years of pain, Jesus finds this one person in a crowded city and brings restoration.

The Greek word for “cure” is hugiēs; on first reading, we may get the impression that it is like the baby diaper brand, “Huggies®.” This gives a pretty accurate interpretation because what parent who is approaching a baby that completely soiled themselves would not think in their mind, “Do you want to get well again? Do you want to get cleaned up? Do you want to be whole again?” The Greek word hugiēs means “in health, sound, well, pure, wholesome.”

In an instant, by the power of God, the man was restored to wholeness, wellness and peace inside of him. The man went off and started to worship at the Temple. He was amazed with his newfound cure and the wholeness that was presented in his life. Later, John tells us, “Jesus found him at the Temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you’” (John 5:14). Something worse than 38 years of wasting away amongst the dejected by the Pool of Bethesda? Yes, worse than that. Essentially, Jesus was warning the man, “Now that you have experienced the work of God in your life, you do not have to go back to that place. You are whole again. Do not make your home in that identity again.”

What the invalid man’s story reveals to us is that God can find us in a multitude of people and speak healing into our lives.

God can bring wholeness into our lives in an instant but once we have received His healing power, we must not return to our old life.

Dear Jesus, thank You for Your healing power in my life. You sought me out and brought restoration to my life. Praise You!