Wednesday November 25, 2020

Begin this new day by praying this prayer out loud. As you are able, consider kneeling as a physical expression of your commitment to Jesus as Lord of your life and the one you desire to lead you this day. Alternatively, you might consider placing a hand over your heart as you pray this prayer.

God of rescue and restoration, thank You for Your great and beautiful mission in the world. Here I am Lord, fill me with Your Spirit and send me.

Sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 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?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
John 5:1-9

Jesus initiated this conversation with the man by the pool, with a simple question, “Do you want to get well?” The man said he wanted to be healed, and seemingly expected Jesus to help him to the pool. Instead, Jesus said, “Pick up your mat and walk!” He had no idea who Jesus was, and no idea how he would help him. It turns out, Jesus expected the man to participate in his own healing.

God has all power to heal, and we have a responsibility to ask for what we need, and to participate in the transformation. So ask for God’s help when you need it, but always remain open for God to work in unexpected ways. Don’t forget your own human agency, and look for how you may be asked to participate in your own healing.

What brokenness do you need to ask God to heal? How might you participate in your own transformation and healing?

When you are finished with your time of reflection, close out this time with this prayer.

Father, help me to live this day to the full,
being true to You in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.
Amen.