29Nov16

John 5:6
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

Continuing in the theme of advent this week which is "hope." I think of the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. 38 years! That's longer than most of the people reading these words have even been alive. He had been unable to walk, be a member of society, or contribute to his family. There was no place for him but begging the good graces of others to provide for his needs. This is where Jesus finds him, in a pile of the sick and infirm, next to a fountain where they congregated. 38 years is a long time to be a certain way. Some would say that nothing could be done, that it would just be the way it is, that there was no hope. Shoot, we look at the personality traits of someone after knowing them less than a year and say things like, "that's just the way they are. There's no changing them." But, Jesus walks up on this man and simply asks, "Do you want to get well?" At the root of the question is one thing... hope. Do you still have hope or are you resigned to things just being as they have been the last 38 years? I think God still asks us this question. With whatever you have been told is true about you. With whatever you may have started to believe cannot be changed. With whatever struggle you are going through. "Do you want to get well?" Do you still have hope?
The man answered with excuses as to why he wasn't healed yet... notice the yet... and showed Jesus that there was still hope there after 38 years. Jesus restored the man's body with a little bit of hope. What can He do in your life today with a little bit of hope from you?