John 5:1-15 Jesus asked a question: "Do you want to get well?" It seems like a strange question to ask a man who has been waiting at the pools edge for many years for an opportunity to climb in and be healed. From time to time an angel of God would come and stir up the water in the pool, and the first one in the pool would be healed. At first one would say, "Now that's a dumb question, of course he wants to be healed." But, consider - One can get used to a life style and a condition, and a change even for the better can call for other changes that can be rather frightening. Do I really want to be healed? - I would lose my disability payments and insurance, I'd have to be retrained and get a job that I might not like and be responsible for things that I don't even have to think about now. NO THANKS! I can live with my disability, I'm used to it. Looking at it again, healing is far more than just a body rework and beautification. It involves a rebuilding of our emotional and spiritual thinking and attitudes. It includes a healing of how we feel about God, ourselves, and others. To be healed requires an act of faith. Very often Jesus said to the one He healed, "Your faith has made you well." In this case the man was healed as he responded to the command of Jesus, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." Notice that it was the command of Jesus that caused the man to be healed, not the stirring of the water. John 8:32 tells us, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Jesus and His Word are The Truth. To know it is not to know about it, but to know it experientially - to act upon it. We don't have trouble reading about a sale in the newspaper and going to the store and taking advantage of it. Why do we have trouble with reading in God's Word what is available to us and then seeking it until we receive it. Being set free by the Truth is a daily continual process. Do you want to be healed? - seek Him, Only Jesus is needed.

Only Jesus Is Needed.