In the gospel of John, Jesus asks an age-old question to a disabled man, “Do you want to get well?” The harsh reality is many people have lost hope of making any lasting changes in their life to get well. The reason is change, and sustainable transformation in our life is a challenging and painful struggle.
Change occurs when something motivates us to leave our past life behind because something is so painful, we seek any means to escape it. Even though we are miserable, fearful, and guilt-ridden, we become comfortable living in bondage to our addictions, trapped in a hopeless pattern of living. Over time, we give up the hope and opportunity for renewal because of the anxiety it creates in us and the impossible expectation it produces in others around us. One person in recovery, when asked the question of what made them stop drinking, states, “When the pain of drinking becomes greater than the pain of not drinking.” (We are All Broken and that’s All Right)
In the New Testament, the definition of the word for salvation is to be made whole and complete. It expresses the expectation when we let go and let Christ take control, we regain the courage to live again. The apostle Paul in Romans 12:2 represents it as a transformation and renewal of the mind. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” That is a spiritual transformation, so today whatever demons you are battling, I hope you have a spiritual transformation of your soul as well and declare, yes, I will get well.
Scripture:
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?” John 5:2-6 NIV
