John 5:1-15

5 Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. ² Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda,^[a] with five covered porches.³ Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.^[b] 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty–eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

⁷ “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

⁸ Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

⁹ Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, ¹⁰ so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

¹¹ But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

¹² “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.

¹³ The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. ¹⁴ But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.”¹⁵ Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.

Are you feeling sick….and tired?

I don’t know how long you’ve been laying beside that pool of pain, but I’ve got good news for you today. Jesus is extending an invitation to you. Actually, He IS the invitation. All you need to do is receive and respond to the question He’s asking,

“Do you want to get well?”

If you RSVP “yes,” then He’ll wanna talk to you about a few things that have been going on in your mind. There’s some thoughts you’ve been thinking that aren’t His thoughts. There’s no condemnation in Christ, dear one. All of us are guilty of agreeing with lies about God, others and ourselves. The enemy is crafty in convincing us that God isn’t good-  and His will and ways in our lives aren’t good. But we’ve gotta get outta that trap he’s laid for us. Otherwise, the blame game will keep us bound, believing

“I can’t…”

“I don’t …”

The Truth is: you CAN get well. The Truth is: you DO have someone. If you’ve been born again and baptized by the Spirit of God you have a helper (on the inside of you) that is suitable for you! If you’ve believed and received Jesus as Savior and Lord you DO have the Word who lights the way back to our Father. You CAN come home again. He’s waiting for you, arms open wide, ready to give you a ring and a robe. He’s also preparing a table just for you, in the presence of those enemies who’ve lied to you.

So… are you ready to return to Him?

Yes?

Praise the LORD!

You’ve come to your senses!!!

Healing is waiting on the other side of your obedience.

Now that you’ve made up your mind, you’ll need to surrender your will. That requires:

• Humbling yourself.
• Asking for help.
• Confessing (out loud) any sin to Him, and others (if prompted).
• Repenting for what needs to be forgiven.
• Forgiving those you’ve blamed for not putting you in that pool.

You can do this, my friend.

You can stand.

You can pick up your mat.

You can walk.

There’s a crowd of witnesses cheering you on!