"When Jesus saw him lying there and learned
that he had been in this condition for a long time,
he asked him, 'Do you want to get well?'"
John 5:6

Three years after helping Syracuse win the NCAA basketball championship, senior guard Gerry McNamara led the ninth-seeded Orangemen to four straight wins and an improbable Big East Conference tournament championship. McNamara made huge plays down the stretch of each of the tournament games to guide his team to victory. "Gerry had as good a four games here as anybody I've ever seen," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "He just wanted to win." What Boeheim is talking about was his star player's will to win.

Why would Jesus ask a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years if he wants to get well?  You would think it would be a no-brainer. But Jesus wants to know if the man has faith that He can make him well and if he has the will or desire to get well. Also, Jesus often deals in the spiritual realm, rather than merely the physical, so it wasn't just about his body being healed, but his soul as well.

When it comes to spiritual matters this is often the way it is in life; people just really don't want to get well.  We say we want to, but we make excuses just like the paralyzed man (John 5:7) about why we are still in the same condition. Until we truly want to get well, and until we realize that Jesus is the only One who can heal us, we will continue life in our sickness.

God wants a relationship with you today.  Do you want Him?  Really?

What is it that you really want in life?  Why?  What area of your life needs some healing?

"Do you want to get well?"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Josh Carter is an East Central Illinois FCA Representative. A former high school teacher and coach, Josh is happily married to his wife Dena. They have two children, Aaron and Kindall.

In Jesus' name, Amen.