I’ve found myself making excuses, at times, for staying in a rut. Perhaps it’s human nature to be comfortable where we’re at, even though we dream of better circumstances and know there’s more to life than what we’re living. Not only do we limit ourselves, but we may limit God’s work and will in our lives when we allow our minds to stay stuck in that rut.
Such was the case with the lame man who sat at the Pool of Bethesda in John 5. For 38 years, the same amount of time the Israelite’s formally went around the mountain in Exodus (they spent 2 traveling), this man waited for someone to put him in the pool so he could be healed.
Jesus words to this man must have felt like a brick upside of his head: “Do you want to be healed?” Today we might respond by asking “Seriously? I’ve spent 38 years begging people to carry me down these ultra-steep steps and drop me in the pool, and you ask if I want to be healed?”
This man defended himself with a string of excuses that might hit home for some of us:
- “I have no man to put me into the pool” - he depended on people rather than God
- “I have to wait until the water is stirred” - he depended on circumstances rather than God
- “Someone has to put me IN THE POOL” - he depended on a location rather than God
-“While I’m waiting someone gets into the pool before me” - he blames others for not helping him enough and getting in his way
-It was the Sabbath Day – he limited himself to a particular day of the week or period of time.
Perhaps Jesus is saying today “Get up! Pick up that roll of excuses you’re laying on and wake up your faith in Me!”
The Living Water isn’t confined to a location or set of circumstances. Dive in!
(Excerpts taken from "The Gospel of John: Believe and Live" by Elmer Towns)
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