Do you want to get well?

John 5:5-6
Common English Bible (CEB)

5 A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, knowing that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

When I first read this story in the bible, I thought that was an odd question for Jesus to ask a person who battled an infirmity for 38 years. However, when you read the entire story in context. Jesus' question makes complete sense.

John 5:2-9 NLT
Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”
7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!

Notice the man's reply when Jesus asked if he wanted to be well. "I can't."

The word can means "to be able to, have the ability, power or skill to." So cannot is the exact opposite. Meaning, you do not have the ability, power or skill to accomplish a goal. But that is not a true statement.

The bible says, we can do all things through Christ (Phil 4:13) and that we are healed by the stripes of Jesus (Isaiah 53:5). Given that we are under the new covenant, sealed with the blood of Jesus, we have the ability to make changes in our lives. Each of have endured hurts, disappointments and other life challenges. Yet, the bible says that Jesus healed us. I believe that applies to all forms of healing: emotionally, physically and spiritually.

So we revert back to the question: Do you want to be well? Either someone brought the man to the pool everyday or he lived there, whichever, he somehow received the necessary substances to sustain life for 38 years! He could have exerted energy by rolling, crawling, or whatever to get to the pool. Instead, he laid there day after day, month after month, and year after year waiting for someone to help me.

Are you that way? You struggle with the same situations over and over again crying out to God for help. God has provided all the help we need in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Let's stop making excuses and pick up our mats and walk. Jesus provided the victory. Let's choose to maintain it by having actions with our faith.

Put the Word into action today and change your tomorrow!