The Big Question

Question to think about: Are you willing to answer the big question: "Do you want to be made well?"

Yesterday, I took a break with some friends that listed all the irritating interruptions of life that had taken their attention in the past week. I was able to relate and added to their list of time consuming annoyances . . . nothing life shattering . . . but the stuff of life that takes time and/or money . . . distracting us from what is really important. Then again . . . there are interruptions that matter . . . that change the way we think and behave.

Jesus interrupted a man's life with a big question:
One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" (John 5:5-6, NRS)

Christ interrupted the way the man thought and lived . . . asking the big question. The man had been ill for thirty-eight years. It seems like Jesus asked a "duh" question until we look at it more closely. The man had been sick thirty-eight years. Did the illness direct his thoughts . . . creating an unhealthy way of thinking and behaving . . . becoming a force in the way he chose to live? Had the man become "comfortable" with his daily routine and rituals created by his illness? What needed to change in order to be healthy?

Think about the big question, "Do you want to be made well?"

What are the areas of your life that need to be interrupted by the presence of Christ?

What needs to change in the way you think and behave for you to be healthy?

How is change possible when you are "comfortable" with the way things are?

Invite Christ to interrupt your "comfortable" unhealthy way of living.
Experience the light of Christ moving into the darkness of the unhealthy areas of your life.
Focus on the power of the light of Christ:
So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:19, NRS)

Learning with you to invite Christ to interrupt comfortable unhealthy ways of living,
Shalom,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2008 All Rights Reserved)