February 21, 2009
The life of Jesus. Read Today: Man healed at pools of Bethesda; John 5:2-15
I work repairing computers at a local community college. Some times the computer lab the students use gets hit with a question that they cannot answer and so they call me and I see what I can do to help. One day I was called in and the student asked me how to do something. I answered her with detailed instructions and showed her how to do it. She looked at me when I was done and said, that is not what I asked, and proceeded to ask the question that she did originally, the one I heard as something else.
Jesus had the same problem.
John 5:6-7 ESV
6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”
7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”
Jesus did not ask him if he had a way to get into the water. The man had a one track mind. The only way he would be healed was for him to make it into the water when a certain thing happened, but he had no one to help him. What he was asked was, do you want to be healed.
Just as I did with that student, so often when God speaks to us, we filter it and answer with what we thought the question was.
When God speaks to you, take some time to listen to Him and hear just what He asks of you.
Read for tomorrow: Jesus challenged for healing on Sabbath; John 5:16-47
