When Jesus saw him lying there,
and knew that he already had been
in that condition a long time,
He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
– John 5:6
Jesus asked a man a question that appears to have had an obvious answer! He came upon a man who had been lame for thirty-eight years and who was sitting beside a pool of healing. Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed. Why would Jesus ask such an obvious question? Perhaps the answer was not so clear. Bartimaeus was blind, yet when he cried out for Jesus to have mercy on him, Jesus asked what he wanted Him to do (Mark 10:51). It would have seemed apparent that the foremost concern of a blind person would be to receive sight. There were times however, when Jesus considered it important for people to verbalize their need and specifically ask Him to heal them.
Just because we are spiritually sick, or just because we are near a place of healing, does not necessarily mean we want to be made well. We may attend church regularly, but choose to remain sinful. Our generation has taken many of the activities that the Bible identifies as sin and has labeled them as addictions or character flaws or the result of an abusive upbringing. We act as if having an addiction is sufficient excuse for disobeying God’s commands. As Christians, we are no longer helpless victims of our sin. There is no sinful habit or past hurt that is beyond the healing touch of our Lord.
Have you gone year after year without receiving spiritual healing? God is capable of freeing you, but you may have become comfortable in your sin.You may not want to be healed. If you really want to receive spiritual health, God can give it today. He wants you to ask Him.
Excerpts republished with permission from Experiencing God Day by Day by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby c. 1997 B&H Publishing Group.
Awesome