Camping sur Mer, Carleton-sur-Mer, Quebec, Canada
“Do you want to get well?” ~ John 5:6b
It was sort of like our BFT Sunday afternoons. BFT = Before Full-Timing.
We went to church (sort of), then we did some type of outdoor activity (a bike ride), then Blaine watched racing and listened to baseball while I read my book. Just like the old days! Sort of. . . We’re praying that we’ll be able to find a place to worship next Sunday once we’re in Maine! Our souls are panting!
Pastor Mike’s message today was from John 5:1-15. This lesson is all about Jesus’ love for everyone – even those who initially have no interest in acknowledging Him in any way. Even those He knows won’t.
It’s the story of Jesus healing a man who’d been an invalid (apparently a paraplegic) for 38 long years. Jesus visits a local pool in Jerusalem that’s crowded with disabled people. They’re there because they believed that periodically the waters were stirred up by an angel of the Lord and the first one in would be healed. So when Jesus comes face-to-face with this man that He already knew (because God knows all of us), Jesus asks the man, “Do you want to get well?” Jesus cares for this man. The man wasn’t seeking God. God sought him.
And Jesus poses the question. But the man doesn’t really answer the question. Instead, he basically tells Jesus, “I can’t because I have no one to get me to the healing water. I’m always too late.”
And Jesus tells him, “‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”’
There’s nothing that says he was ecstatic about his miraculous healing. And moments later as he’s walking around carrying his mat, the Jewish leadership spot him and question him, because it’s the Sabbath and carrying your mat constitutes work (according to the leaders, not God), so the guy’s in trouble.
And he shifts blame onto an “unknown man” who told him to carry his mat. He basically tells them “He made me do it!”
Later that day, Jesus ran across the guy again at the temple (don’t for one moment think this was an accident), and He said to him, “See, you are well again! Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” (Meaning, if you don’t stop your sinful behavior and start living for God, you’ll end up spending eternity separated from Him in Hell.) The guy still doesn’t respond, but instead runs tattling to the Jews who questioned his mat-carrying and tells them it was Jesus who made him do it. There is, apparently, no happy ending for this man who had the great privilege of being presented twice with the opportunity to respond to Jesus’ call.
Sometimes, I like the way The Message Bible paraphrases things, because it can add some clarity. Today I’m going to share these 15 verses with you:
Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people – blind, crippled, paralyzed – were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”
The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”
Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.
That day happened to be the Sabbath. The Jews stopped the healed man and said, “It’s the Sabbath. You can’t carry your bedroll around. It’s against the rules.”
But he told them, “The man who made me well told me t. He said, ‘Take your bedroll and start walking.’”
They asked, “Who gave you the order to take it up and start walking?” But the healed man didn’t know, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd.
A little later Jesus found him in the Temple and said, “You look wonderful! You’re well! Don’t return to a sinning life or something worse might happen.”
The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. That is why the Jews were out to get Jesus – because he did this kind of thing on the Sabbath.
But Jesus defended himself. “My Father is working straight through, even on the sabbath. So am I.
That really set them off. The Jews were now not only out to expose him; they were out to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was calling God his own Father, putting himself on a level with God.
And so, you say, what has this to do with me?
Jesus asks us all the same question. Do you want to get well? He asks it before we know Him. He asks it after we come to know Him personally. Do you want to get well? Or do you prefer to spend your life – both here and potentially in the hereafter – either totally without him, or in a state that leaves you separated from Him because of some persistent sin in your life.
Do you want to get well?
I finally joined Blaine for a 7-mile bike ride to the observation tower this afternoon, where we ended up staying longer than planned because we were dog watching. A couple and their older daughter appeared on the beach in front of us, along with a golden retriever. The daughter had an inflatable SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) and as she worked, her dog romped in the water. We watched her (the dog, silly) look around for the perfect rock, shove it backwards between her legs until it was close enough to the beach she could pick it up and take it to her family, dropping it at their feet. We watched them ignore her. Then she’d return and do it again. Later, she started diving. She actually stuck her head and most of her body under the water for several seconds! We’d never seen a dog do that! Anyway, she was having a blast, all by herself. We continued waiting because we were certain that dog was going to ride on the paddleboard, but although the owner put a life vest on her, she never got on the board. She just swam alongside and off they went. Crazy stuff. 😊
My biking outfit was jeans, a hoody and shoes and socks. It was cloudy and cool. But by the time we returned home, the sun had come out and it became a very warm ride at the end.
And I overheard the first foul language we’ve heard all summer. As we were near the campground entrance, we had to bike around two young women pushing a baby stroller. One of the women dropped several “F-bombs” just as we went by and although I didn’t hear the other words distinctly, whatever they were talking about was definitely in English. Which made me consider the possibility that they might be Americans. Very sad.
Can you believe the swift change in weather?!?
our satellite dish has to point almost down to pick up the satellite!
When arrived at home, I peeled off my sauna suit, put on shorts and we headed out for a walk on the beach. The weather had done a complete 180!
Once we had that figured out, we thought the letters might be the days of the week,
but they’re not, so we have no idea what they are.
Once we arrived back home again, I sat outside and read my book and Blaine sat inside and watched his stuff. The Indians beat the Yankees, by the way. 😊
The rest of the day was uneventful, until we were cleaning up after dinner.
We had tacos (and I know you’re wondering why I’m telling you such a mundane thing, but there’s a reason). If you’ve ever made tacos, you know it requires some space. You need the stove (which in our case has to be uncovered, eliminating some counter space), and you need a place to chop, and you need a place to set out the stuff you’re using. In cases like this, I get out one of the Corian sink covers that came with the coach, so I have some extra counter space.
So. After dinner, Blaine and I were cleaning up. We were getting close to dishwashing time, but that cover was in the way now, so I wiped it off, picked it up to dry off both sides so I could put it away . . .
and promptly dropped it on the toes of my left foot.
I’m very proud to say, not a single expletive left my mouth, nor were any zipping around in my head, and I barely shed a tear, and as I lay on the bed in excruciating pain like I’ve not felt in many, many years, my Lamaze breathing technics came to the fore. As Blaine stood helplessly – – just like the last time I had to use that breathing method.
Once I got myself under control though, he immediately swung into doctor mode. Checking out the injury and setting up elevation and applying an ice pack every 20 minutes. He even gave up his seat on the couch for a bit so I could have a comfortable place to lay down. And he fed me two Aleve. And later he bandaged me up. Another blessing – – the skin broke allowing blood to seep out.
And the tile floor had nary a mark on it, nor did the cover.
OUCH!!! 
So many things could have gone so much worse. But God’s providence allowed for little damage. Nothing – not my foot, toes, floor, nothing – is broken. And only one toe sacrificed itself.
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!