March 24, 2010
Keep on Moving
A slim young woman who goes to my fitness center appears to have debilitating rheumatoid arthritis in her hands, feet and possibly her hips. Now I know when we get ‘stove-up’ that the doctor recommends we keep on moving because if we sit and do nothing we’ll be in worse shape. However this woman does more than just try to keep moving. She arrives early in the morning, uses the few apparatuses that she can manage, and does a flurry of partial sit-ups that most able bodied people wouldn’t do. Because of her exercise regiment, I’m giving more thought to the invalid by the pool at Bethesda. You’d think that an invalid of 38 years would at least try to keep on moving to keep his strength up. It seems fitting that Jesus would ask him, “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:1-8).
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Gail;
-----You point out something I never thought about. This man was not too ill to be at least a little mobile. He told Jesus that he had been trying to get into the pool when it was stirring. You would think that if his motivation was strong enough he would have eventually found a way to get there first. I always wondered why Jesus asked if he wanted to get well. Maybe He made this observation, too.
-----I think of the Lord’s prayer. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This isn’t just a nicety. It is a request. His kingdom isn’t merely the spiritual realm where the angels are. Nor is it limited to the church and the work preachers and missionaries do in it. His kingdom isn’t religious places and things and activities only, or just God‘s command over them. It is right being done; it is peace; and it is joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom 14:17) Righteousness, peace, and joy do not exist outside of hearts. So His kingdom coming into the earth is its coming into the hearts of His people. His will being done certainly involves the events He has planned for bringing Christ onto His throne in Jerusalem and then all of His children into the New Jerusalem. But it is not just that general. Every decision we make in our own lives, no matter how important or insignificant, involves what is right or wrong to do in a situation. Making the decision to do the right thing and then doing it increases His will being done on earth as it is done in heaven. Every right action adds to peace and joy. So we each are individually responsible for moving in a manner which brings His kingdom further into the earth from His will being done more (even if in only one heart and by one person.)
-----We are all much like this invalid in our spiritual natures. None of us are perfectly healthy; we are all spiritually crippled to some extent. That is why we called on Christ to save us. Yet do we do our best to be the first into the spiritual pool of healing when it stirs? When we pray for His kingdom to come and His will be done, do we also move for these? Do we go out onto the streets doing good to all men? Do we really want to get well? This is why we continue calling upon Him to recover more of our nature from the old ways into our new lives.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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