Jesus was walking through Jerusalem and passed by one of the porches surrounding the Pool of Bethesda. He looked in sympathy at the people He saw there. Some were lying on mats on the hard ground, some sitting alone, others talked quietly with the person who was keeping them company. The two things that they all shared were all were sick and all had their eyes on the water in the pool.
The pool had the reputation of being a source of healing. Word had spread that an angel was sent from God to stir up the waters. There was just enough power imparted by that angel that one person would be healed if they could get into it while it was moving. Of course, spots near the pool’s edge were hard to secure and everyone pressed as close as possible.
As Jesus walked by, His eyes were drawn to one man lying close to the edge of the crowd, lying on a woven mat with legs that were thin and wasted from disuse. As the man glanced up at Him, Jesus knew from the look on his face that he had given up hope of ever reaching those swirling waters.
Jesus stooped with a smile and asked, “Do you want to be made whole?” The man sighed heavily as he pointed out that he was far from the pool and had no one to put him into the water.
As he looked up into Jesus’ smiling face, the man felt a strange fluttering in his chest. The long forgotten emotion of hope sparked to life inside him. Jesus simply said, “Rise, take up your bed and walk!”
Do you know what the man did next? Let me tell you what he did not do. He didn’t look around for someone to be a cheerleader urging him on. He didn’t take a vote among the infirm people around him to see if they thought it would be okay. He didn’t stop and hold a committee meeting on the implications of Jesus’ words and he didn’t say he needed to pray about it first.
The man sat up, pulled his legs up toward him, and stood up. He picked up the mat that he was lying on and rolled it up to carry it home.
This man’s miracle wasn’t found in a pool. It was found in looking at Jesus. His hope wasn’t in the reputation of a supernatural encounter in the form of an angel, but in the face of the Son of God. His wholeness didn’t come through spiritual performance and keeping the rules. Wholeness came by hearing Jesus and just doing what He said.
I cannot tell you how many pools I have camped out beside in my life. Sometimes the pool looked like a conference with just the right speaker. Sometimes it looked like following the latest self-proclaimed prophet or prophetess on social media. My pool has even looked like striving to pray and fast enough to earn the Lord’s attention.
The real problem with the pool mentality is the limitation it overlays on my Christian walk. It makes me need to be in the right place, connected to the right people, and doing the right things before I can receive from God. Just between me and you, I am done with the pool.
My hope is found in the face of Jesus. My wholeness is found in simply believing what He says and acting like it is true. I don’t have to run from conference to conference to find that out. I just need to pick up my Bible and let Him speak. Can I tell you a little about what God says about me?
He says, I am valuable (Mt 10:30-31), I am chosen(Jn 15:16), I am loved (Jn 16:27). He says that I am a child of God (John 1:12), that I have eternal life already beating in my chest (Jn 3:18)and that He is giving me a life worth living (Jn 10:10).
How about these promises? His word says I am a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17) and that I am more than a conqueror even when things are tough (Rom 8:37). He promises I will have strength to do whatever I need to do in life (Phil 4:13).
Let me ask you today, have you been caught in the same pool chasing mindset in which I found myself? You will never find your worth, your wholeness, your identity in someone’s affirmation or attention. You need to stop waiting by that pool and lift your eyes up to Jesus. He is not far away and He just wants you to believe what He says.
