MARCH17026

Jesus said to him, “Do you want to be well?” You can well imagine that the paralyzed man thought that was a stupid question. Of course, I want to be well, he might have snapped. But I can’t do this, those others do that and that’s why I’m not well. Jesus might have pressed the question further — do you want to get well or not. No excuses, no blaming, just the decision to get well.  “Rise, pick up your mat and walk.” It’s as if Jesus is letting the man know he always had the ability to be well if he would just seize it. However, think about people who are clinically depressed — they certainly want to be well. Their illness is so debilitating that they can’t pick up their mat and walk. So perhaps the real lesson is getting the focus not on what I can do but on what God can do. I cannot presume on my own strength to be well but I can trust that God is with me no matter how I am doing and I can depend on that presence to sustain me both “in sickness and in health” until death.