“Do you want to be made well?”

It was one of the most pointed, direct questions ever asked by Jesus (John 5:6).

Then came the command: “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” {8}…’and immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked’ (9).

I cannot stress enough the importance of that word ‘immediately’ that is recorded there in scripture. It did not take this man who had been infirm for 38 years …a ‘running start’ along with years of therapy to begin doing what he had been created to do…which was to walk uprightly on both legs.

Walk…uprightly.

What about you?

Do you…want to be ‘made well’…so that you too…can ‘walk uprightly’…before God?

Can you even imagine a scenario where someone would not want to be made well? What on earth could possibly be a reason for resisting or even refusing to say ‘yes’ to such a question? Well, the answer to that might not shock you because when we get honest with ourselves, we can discover that we actually ‘love’ darkness more than we love light. (John 3:19-21).

Have you never met or known someone who chose to remain bitter and resentful, not being willing to forgive someone for a past offense?

Don’t we all know people who seem to love misery and hesitate to do anything constructive to crawl out of that pit of despair and self-pity? That man we read about in John 5 was awful close to being there as he tried to explain to Jesus why he was still in that wretched condition. Then Jesus simply spoke the word…and the man was healed and up walking.

If you profess to ‘believe in’ Jesus, then you too have been called to a certain ‘walk’. And 1 John 2:6 strongly implies that this ‘walk’ will be very similar to the way in which Jesus ‘walked’…IF…one is abiding in Him. That is, after all… the ONLY way any of us can do that- ‘walk like Him’. So I guess a legitimate follow up question that could be asked after ‘do you want to be made well’…would be- “are you willing to abide in Jesus?”

And if…you find yourself wanting to qualify that question with something that sounds like: “You mean as in ALL the time…abide in Him?”… then you might want to give pause and ask yourself why the ‘hesitation’? Why would you NOT…want to abide in Jesus ALL the time…especially if you had previously ‘given Him your whole heart’… and ‘made Him Lord’ of your life? Because friends…this really is the question that anyone who claims to be a follower of His needs to come to terms with.

The reason I bring this up is because when you begin to peel back the layers of your heart, don’t be shocked to discover that there may be some things you’ve been holding on to that you actually love…maybe even more than you love God. And this becomes a problem; and not a small one either. The Bible calls it 'idolatry'. 

The story of the rich young ruler whom we read about in Matt. 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18 exposes the only reason he fell short of entering into, or receiving ‘eternal life’…was the fact there was actually something within him that he was unwilling to lay down and give up in order to walk with Jesus. You probably know what that one thing was…that he wanted to hold on to.

What’s been the one thing that has ‘kept you from being perfect’, or having a ‘pure heart’? And if you think you can enter the kingdom of God while loving something in your heart more than Him…you’ve been deceived (Luke 10:25-28). Jesus did not make an exception for that young ruler, so why would any of us think He’ll make an exception for us?

“Oh…sure…you have done some great works and improved greatly over a span of your life, so God will just overlook that area of __________ in your heart that you were not willing to lay down and ‘die to’ for His sake…and you too can enter the kingdom of heaven”. That sure does not seem to line up with what Jesus told those folks in Matt. 7:23…”depart from Me you who continue to practice sin…”

I don’t know what the first thing was that popped in your mind when you saw that ‘blank____’, but let’s talk about it for a moment. I don’t need to know what it is that you have struggled with in ‘letting go’ of, but you can be free of it…if you want…and be made well. And let me assure you of this…it has nothing to do with ‘self-discipline’ or ‘positive thinking’ or any other ‘mind over matter’ strategy you may have been taught over the years. But you do have a choice to make, and the sooner you come to terms with this, the sooner you can be ‘free…and free indeed’…or turn away and be filled with sorrow and grief…as our rich young ruler was.

But let me encourage you here, if not ‘spur you on’ (Heb. 10:24) to make the better choice where you too can ‘take up your bed and walk ‘uprightly’ before God. It is clear that Jesus healed this man ‘immediately in John 5. Now this might be a good time to read Acts 10:38 and be reminded as to what all of us are really being ‘healed from’, which is ‘spiritual’ in nature, or at its ‘root’. This…is why we fail continuously to overcome various struggles in our lives- we are no match for this foe, our spiritual enemy who seeks to ‘kill, steal, and destroy’.

Now before you tell Jesus that you do indeed…want to be made well…and to abide in Him continually (which is highly recommended)…you need to be forewarned what can happen if you fail to continue on with Him after He heals or delivers you. What was the warning given to this man in John 5:14? And what do we learn from the story Jesus told in Matt. 12:43-45? Yes…you need to go look that up now and read it for yourself.

Perhaps tomorrow…we can pursue this more for those who are ready to be free, and to be free indeed.