DAY 236--DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL?
2008-09-13

It's late Saturday morning, and we are waiting to see if Ike is going to make it this far north. I'm skeptical.


Psalm for today: Psalm 89:1-19

Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD,
a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him?
O LORD God of hosts, who is might as you are, O LORD, with your faithfulness all around you?

Here, again, is a reference to the "council of the holy ones." I still haven't quite pinned down who these "holy ones" are.



Tabletalk Magazine

Matthew 22:15-22 Giving Caesar His Due

The Pharisees try to trick Jesus again, this time asking him if it's lawful to pay taxes. He asks to see the coin and asks whose picture that is on it. "Caesar's," they say. "Ok," he said, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's." (I paraphrased.)

The Pharisees disliked the yearly tax that they had to pay because it was a constant reminder of the Roman rule over their country. They actually agreed with the Herodians long enough to try to trap Jesus with this question. Once again, he is in a no-win situation. If he agrees that the tax is lawful, then the Jews will hate him. If he says it is unlawful, he can be arrested for treason.

His answer, however, silences his critics and "shows that His community respects the secular authorities and does not promote rebellion."

The closing statements: "Our Lord's teaching is a useful principle for understanding when it is lawful to obey the state. As long as it does not claim for itself the rights that appropriately belong to God, Christians must obey the ruling authorities. This means we obey even when we do not agree with their tax rates, speed limits, or regulation of other parts of our lives. Do you obey the government when no biblical principle is violated even if you do not like the laws of the land?"

OUCH! My toes!!



Day 236 in The Message//Remix:Solo

John 5:1-9

The passage recounts the story of Jesus and the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. This pool was where hundreds of sick people would congregate because legend had it that when the water stirred, the first person in got healed. This man had been hanging around the pool for 48 years!

Jesus asked him an obvious question, "Do you want to get well?" The man answered that he had no one to carry him to the water, and couldn't get there before someone else was already in it.

Jesus simply told him to get up and go home. "Get up, take your bedroll, start walking." The man was healed on the spot.

Unfortunately, this happened on the Sabbath, which created all kinds of controversy, but we aren't getting into that today.

I think the thing that stands out most to me in this passage is Jesus's question, "Do you want to get well?"

It seems a bit obvious on the surface, but deeper down, it is a serious and valid question for a lot of people.

"Do you want to get well?"

Or do you want to remain in your "sickness," whatever it might be?

You see, for a lot of us, we have become comfortable in our "sickness." Getting "well" would require getting out of our comfort zone. Of course, I am not for a second insinuating that people with serious, debilitating diseases want to remain afflicted. I'm more referring to "sicknesses" that are more sin than they are sick.

"Do I want to get well?"

I say I do. But then, do I do what Jesus commanded? Do I "get up, take up my bedroll, start walking?"

I ask God to deliver me from sinful desires. Then I sit down and continue the activity that feeds those desires and strengthens them. Instead, I should be getting up, taking up my bedroll and starting to walk. My "bedroll" in this case is whatever it is that I am comfortable sitting on.

Yesterday I started walking. And I feel very good about that.

I do want to get well.

I don't question whether or not Jesus can deliver me. Or even whether he will. What I question is my willingness to give up what makes me comfortable, even when it is dreadfully sinful.

He can't/won't heal me if I don't get up. Or maybe he did already heal, and it is still up to me to start walking. Imagine how silly it would have been if the crippled man at the pool had just sat there after Jesus healed him. The Bible does say that he was healed, then he got up and walked. What if he had just sat there?? Another 48 years. With legs that worked perfectly.

How long do we continue to sit in our condition after Jesus has healed us??



Jesus I hear you today. I heard you two days ago. Yesterday, I finally got up and started walking. I pray for the strength to keep walking and never sit back down again. I've lived in such frustration for years when all I needed to do was "get up and start walking." Forgive me for not following that command. Strenthen me to move forward.


It sounds so simple.

But it really isn't that easy.

But I rejoice that I have moved a step closer to Jesus. One step closer is good. I pray for more steps.

Grace and peace, friends.



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