At the beginning of this year, I decided not to have a New Year's resolutions, but rather to pick a word that would encompass my over all goals for 2012. You can find the post about it here;
Determination
Determination, the word I chose to highlight my year is one that I have had to revisit recently as I am now on my third week of Lent and finding it hard to stick with my fast.
I still have another 3 weeks to go, and although I am confident that I will finish well, I have had to be "Determined" about what it is exactly that I want this fast to do.
I read yesterday in John 5, where Jesus is at this pool that sick people used to hang out by, hoping to get healed. They would wait for the water in the pool to stir, and when it did the first one to get in the pool would be healed from whatever ailment was bothering them. If you don't know the story check it out. It's a little hocus pocus if you ask me, don't quite understand why a pool would bring healing, but whatevs!
Back to my point, in this story there is a man who can never get up quick enough to be the winner in the hocus pocus pool, so he is left with his disability, and a good portion of self-pity, Eeyor-ish attitude. Anyone who has had chronic pain, or a lifelong disability I am sure can relate to how he was feeling.
Jesus comes in one day and says, "Do you want to become well?"
Hmm...
My initial response to reading this was, 'Well of course he wants to get well Jesus'. But then I started to think about a whole other side of this story. Like, would if Jesus knew, because he knows everything, that this man was just coming up with excuses? Maybe, he enjoyed the attention he got, the pity party was more fun than real life party, hanging out by the pool had become so comfortable it was scary to think of leaving??? These are all thoughts that maybe Jesus knew about this man and so that's why he asked him;
"Do you want to become well?"
It made me think of how many times I set out to do something to get healthier and in the end give up.
I am nothing, if not consistently, inconsistent. (Say those last 2 words 5 times fast)
So if I take that story and apply it to myself, I would say, Yes I want to get well. I want to be the person who forever changes my lifestyle habits, and never returns to my former ways of life. I want to be the "dog that does NOT return to it's vomit"
I want to be consistent.
I want to be determined.
I want to get well.
2 comments:
The guy couldn't get in the water he was crippled. Why didn't someone help him or draw names .lol Well he just couldn't be well until Jesus who can heal, alot faster than a pig can roll in the mud,would be there to be able to tell the story. Thank you John for your writing skills. Thanks Noel for the expressions "pigs in the mud" I like it, and the pigs love the mud.I know this is about water not mud. FL
" He had suffered with a Deep seated, and lingering disorder for 38 years" That's what it says. I wonder what that could be? Drawing names would have been a good idea. I imagine this pool wasn't frequented by people who were well enough to think to draw names though :)
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