Do You Truly Desire To Grow And Change?

Posted on February 8, 2011 by

John 5:1-8:

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem … Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “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.” Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

This man spent his days waiting for his turn to dip into a pool that has healing waters. But before he could manage to get into the water, someone always steps in ahead of him. When Jesus sees the man, he asks what appears to be a very odd question: “Would you like to get well?” I can easily imagine the man saying to himself, “What kind of question is that? Of course I want to get well.”

Perhaps Jesus asked the question in this manner because He knew a fundamental truth about human nature … the presence of sickness and many other types of problems do not automatically bring a desire for healing, growth or change. We many long for something or someone to take the pains away … something or someone to alter our circumstances … but we still may resist change. Why? Because growth and change involves responsibility, pain and a faithful step away from the familiar … however painful or unhealthy the familiar may be.

For many of us, it is easier to remain in an uncomfortable negative situation than it is to risk change. Positive change entails being responsible for ourselves and not waiting for others to assume that responsibility on our behalf. If someone else fails, we can blame them. As it is, we blame our lack of growth on our circumstances, our past relationships, friends, families and God. Recall the lame man’s response to Jesus’ question: “for I have no one to put me into the pool …” True, indelible growth and change is always based on personal responsibility and initiative. It is sustained by a faithful relationship with God and an unwavering belief that He can still deliver.

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