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REAL ISSUE: ‘I don’t feel like going to work. I’ll just call in sick!’
“Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” John 5:5,6 , New King James Version
RESEARCH AND STUDY
Let me direct that same question to you – do you want to be made well, yes or no? You might ask, “What kind of question is that?” It’s actually a very legitimate one because there comes a time when you’re going to have to ask yourself do you really want to be healed or have you been enjoying the excuse, attention, pity, and lifestyle your sickness has garnered you.
Have you ever pretended or extended your sickness to get out of doing something you didn’t want to do? Sure, we all have. Because when someone’s sick, we tend to excuse them from their responsibilities. We let them get away with not completing their assignments. Corporate America has even allocated a few times a year when you’re paid to be excused from your assignments and responsibilities – they call them ‘sick days.’ The medical field has even designated seasons of sickness; they’re referred to as the ‘cold or flu season.’
But when Jesus posed the question to the man that had been sick for thirty-eight years, he got three excuses; “Sir,(trying to sound all pitiful) I have no man to put me into the pool (excuse #1) when the water is stirred up; (excuse #2) but while I am coming, another steps down before me (excuse #3).”
Notice Jesus heard the all three excuses but did Jesus say, “You’re right, call in sick!” or “They sure did. You need to call Morgan & Weisbrod to get your disability started.” No, Jesus said, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” In other words, ‘Don’t nobody want to hear all that. Get up! Clean this mess up and do what God created You to do!’
My hope is that you no longer use the sickness excuse but that you’ll rise. Prayerfully you’ll no longer excuse the sickness in your body to the point that you continue to allow pain the right to continue to oppress you and that you’ll take your healing, walk, and do what God created You to do.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT
Ask God to forgive you for all the times you used the sickness excuse.
RESOURCES
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