|
A Pastor’s Perspective
“Are
You Willing?” by Mike Hill, pastor of
Calvary Chapel Aberdeen (mjhill@ida.net)
Listen to CALVARY RADIO 90.3 FM
The
doctors I visit are competent.
For the most part, they also convey compassion.
Competence and compassion—a doctor’s
double-barrel attack against any harmful bacteria or
virus seeking to invade my body.
But why don’t I always rapidly recover from
curable sicknesses?
Maybe it has something to do with me.
I remember as a child I had some sort of
obnoxious cough combined with other symptoms, and my mom
decided to take me to the doctor.
I’m sure the family practitioner conveyed
warmth in his “bed-side manners” and effectively
diagnosed my condition.
However, a week or so after the office visit, I
just wasn’t getting any better.
Was the problem with the doctor? I
don’t think so. The
problem was with me.
I was not willing to be made well.
I was intimidated by the gargantuan size of the
horse-pills I was supposed to take.
I only pretended to swallow them.
The problem was soon identified, and I was made
well, when I finally took the medicine!
Jesus
posed an interesting question to a paralyzed man.
He asked, “Do
you want to be made well?” (John 5:1-15).
Of course he wants to be healed!
After all, the context in which Jesus encounters
the paralyzed man is a place where the disabled man is
in passionate pursuit of healing.
Why would Jesus present a question which would
supply a seemingly obvious answer?
The handicapped man’s “non-answer” reveals
the reason. He
responded by emphasizing the limitations of his
condition, the lack of help from other people, and the
obstacles from the environment. But the source of healing was not in any of those things.
The Source of healing was standing right in front
of him!
We
all have issues that leave us paralyzed.
Fear. Anxiety.
Unforgiveness.
Jesus asks us, “Do
you want to be made well?”
We often answer by talking about years of
entrenched habits.
“I can
never change—I’ve always been this way.”
We justify our unforgiveness and blame others
by saying things like, “You
just don’t understand what that person did to me.” We may direct our lack of responsibility on
something else, “It’s
the economy’s fault” or
“My boss won’t let me get ahead.”
However, the source of “wholeness” is in
none of these things.
Jesus asks you, “Do
you want to be made well?”
Literally, do you want to made “whole”?
He is competent—He has all power.
He is compassionate—He died for you.
The Source of healing is standing right in front
of you.
If
you do not know that your sins are forgiven, the problem
is not with the doctor.
Jesus paid the price for the sins of everyone and
offers salvation to everyone as a gift (Ephesians
2:8-10). The
problem is not with the Lord; it is with you.
Are you genuinely willing to receive what God has
freely given? God
promises: “And
you will seek Me and find Me,
when you search for Me with all your heart”
(Jeremiah 29:13). Are
you willing to seek Jesus and rely completely on Him? Do
you want to be made well?
|
