"Get up,"

Jesus told him, 

"pick up your mat and walk."

Instantly the man got well, 

picked up his mat, 

and started to walk.

John 5:8-9 CSB

When our guy was asked by Jesus "do you want to get well?", his answer focussed on the place he was in and that no one would help him. It's like that had become his identity. 

Do you want to get well?

I'm the guy who's stuck here who no one helps.

Yet he'd had this disability for 38 years, someone must've been helping him, bringing food, taking him to the toilet, helping him stay healthy.

Do you want to get well?

Yes that would be awesome! 

No, his answer was all about the problem. 

Jesus says take your mat and walk.

Don't come back to this place. 

I've healed your body, but there's something else that seems to be in those words "pick up your mat and walk".

Maybe Jesus wants to ask us the same question:

"Do you want to get well?"

My answer is "but I can't because..." shows up something in my heart, something in my thinking that he wants me to see...something he wants me to walk away from and not go back to. 

My blind spot.

The place I need healing but it's not so obvious.

What do you think?

#gospelofJohn

#whenJesusasksaquestion