Instruction

2 Tim.3:¹⁶ “Every Scripture has been written by the Holy Spirit, the breath of God. It will empower you by its instruction and correction, giving you the strength to take the right direction and lead you deeper into the path of godliness.” (TPT]

John 5:⁷ “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.” God is focused on you, “Would you be made whole?” What do you want? Instead, you are focused on how your sister cheated you fifteen years ago. What do you want now? The reality is, sometimes all that stands between us and Jesus is a flimsy excuse. Can you think of a time when a flimsy excuse stood between you and what God wanted to do in your life? I am too young, I am too old, I do not have enough money, I have too much money – what excuse did you give? John 5:⁸ “Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” The first thing that jumps out at us here is that Jesus does not need anybody’s permission to bless you. Jesus does not need the permission of the people you think should help you get into the pool. He does not need the permission of the people you think are blocking you. Jesus does not need the permission of the people that like your face or the permission of people that do not like your face to bless you. This is totally exciting!

If God needed to wait for permission, some people will never get blessed because people can be very wicked. Guess what? Are you ready for this? Jesus did not even need the man’s permission to bless him. Several times, Jesus would heal people and say, “Your faith has made you whole”, right? God works with our faith but sometimes regardless of what you think and regardless of what you do, He will do what He will do. If God wants to bless you, He will bless you. For all of us reading this, God has chosen to bless us regardless. This man did not even know who Jesus was. Jesus did not introduce Himself like He did to the Samaritan woman. Jesus just said to the man, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” and boom, the man was healed. This man did not have faith. Jesus did not have a pedigree with him. The man was a total stranger. Jesus did not take permission from this man. Jesus asked the man one question, but the man was telling Him all sorts of stories. Why all the stories? “Would you be made whole?” – that was the question.

If all Jesus said was, “Stand up and walk!” that would have been enough but why did Jesus have to add the difficult task of, “pick up your mat” for a man that has not walked for thirty-eight years? To get up and walk without carrying any load is easier than get up pick up your mat and walk. Why did Jesus do that? Sometimes, people are quick to forget the things that God has done for them. As a Pastor, I have seen people that God has taken from a total mess and He has beautified their lives. Then I see these same people being impatient with someone who is on the same journey God helped them on. The question is, is this not the same person that was at this same point just two years ago? The problem is he or she did not carry his or her mat. Just one instruction from Jesus makes all the excuses crumble.

Prayer: Father, help me never to forget Your grace and to extend grace, in Jesus Name. Amen!