Get Up

 ^1-6Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem.

   Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, "Do you want to get well?"

 ⁷The sick man said, "Sir, when the water is stirred, I don't have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in."

 ^8-9Jesus said, "Get up, take your bedroll, start walking." The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.

 ^9-10That day happened to be the Sabbath. The Jews stopped the healed man and said, "It's the Sabbath. You can't carry your bedroll around. It's against the rules."

 ¹¹But he told them, "The man who made me well told me to. He said, 'Take your bedroll and start walking.'"

 ^12-13They asked, "Who gave you the order to take it up and start walking?" But the healed man didn't know, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd.

 ¹⁴A little later Jesus found him in the Temple and said, "You look wonderful! You're well! Don't return to a sinning life or something worse might happen." (John 5:1-14, The Message)

What do we do when Jesus says, "Get Up."

Or, maybe, he says it more like...GET UP.

It's a command, not a suggestion.

Most of the time, we like to feign ignorance.  We pretend not to know what Jesus is commanding us.  That's one reason we don't read more scripture.  His words pierce our lives.  He tells us what we need to do.  He doesn't suggest, sometimes he commands.

Of course, that sick man could still have chosen to lay there.  At least, that's what I think.  He didn't.  He obeyed, and obedience was the key that unlocked a miracle.

What commands could Jesus be giving you as his disciple?  How might being obedient lead to greater healing in your own life?

Grace & Peace,
Adam