Have you ever seen The Notebook? I’m guessing you probably have, and guys, don’t be too macho to admit you cried a little. It’s a good movie. You know that scene where Ryan Gosling is repeatedly asking “What do you want? WHAT DO YOU WANT?” (That’s the scene where every man who has ever asked his girlfriend “where do you want to eat?” cried, having felt understood for the first time in his life.) Did you know that scene was based on the Bible? Okay, maybe not exactly, maybe not even a little, but there IS a moment in scripture where Jesus finds Himself asking a similar question...

“One of the men lying there had been sick for 38 years. Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been sick for a very long time. So he asked him, “Do you want to be well?” The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the water when it starts moving. I try to be the first one into the water. But when I try, someone else always goes in before I can.” Then Jesus said, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Immediately the man was well. He picked up his mat and started walking.”

John 5:5-9 ERV

We all want to be well, don’t we? We want God to show up, and our situation to change. We want to be healed from our sickness, delivered from our pain, whatever the case may be. Or at least, we say we do, but when Jesus shows up in John 5, He asks an interesting question. 

“Do You Want To Be Well?”

What a question. At first it seems ridiculous. This man has been unwell for a very long time, why would Jesus even ask a question like this? Do you want to be well? It’s like asking someone dying of thirst if they’d like a glass of water. But maybe, as always, Jesus knows something we don’t. We all say we want to be well, we want to move past that thing holding us back, we want to be healed, be it physically or emotionally. Unfortunately; when the very thing we seek freedom from has become an integral part of our identity, things get complicated. If God heals that childhood wound, I don’t have an excuse for my behavior anymore. If He provides a new job, I don’t have an excuse for my poor money management anymore. If He frees me from my hurt, I don’t have an excuse for my self pity anymore. Some of us say we want to be well, but like the Israelites in Egypt, we don’t want to lose the comfort we’ve found in our oppression. What do you want? More importantly, what do you want most? Jesus asks “Do you want to be well?” Because He knows we can be victors or victims, but we cannot be both. 

“Pick Up Your Mat…”

It’s interesting to note that the man didn’t respond with a resounding yes. When presented with the possibility for God to do something amazing, he initially responded with an excuse of why it couldn’t happen. He doesn’t even consider the possibility that perhaps freedom could come differently than he thought it would. And then Jesus says it, “take up your mat and walk.” He speaks not to the misery, but to the man. The proof would be demonstrated not in speech, but in action, would the man attempt to follow this command when he hadn’t walked in years? Acting in a faith and desire louder than his doubt and excuses, the man attempts to move and finds himself healed, but “pick up your mat” wasn’t the entire command, was it?

“…and Walk.”

If the man was to make the most of being healed, it meant walking away from his identity as the beggar. It meant walking away from the place he had been. He had to be prepared to leave, and embrace the unknown. This is the place we so often find ourselves unprepared for. We want the miracle, we want things to change, but change sometimes, most times, means leaving the familiar. By definition, freedom cannot be acquired without leaving that which held you captive. So the question is, if Jesus came today and asked “do you want to be well?” Are you prepared to pick up your mat and walk away from the part of you that has been tied to what held you down? What do you need to break off in order to break through?

Pick up your mat, and walk. 

Is there someone you know who could benefit from reading this? Forward it their way, and encourage them to sign up at the link below:

https://sendfox.com/casenwatson