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Passage from Today’s Church Reading (Gospel Reading): John 5: 5-14)
“A man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years.
Jesus saw him lying there, and he knew that the man had been sick for such a long time; so he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’
The sick man answered, ‘Sir, I don’t have anyone here to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am trying to get in, somebody else gets there first.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.’
Immediately the man got well; he picked up his mat and started walking. The day this happened was a Sabbath, so the Jewish authorities told the man who had been healed, ‘This is a Sabbath, and it is against our Law for you to carry your mat.’
He answered, ‘The man who made me well told me to pick up my mat and walk.’
They asked him, ‘Who is the man who told you to do this?’
But the man who had been healed did not know who Jesus was, for there was a crowd in that place, and Jesus had slipped away.
Afterward, Jesus found him in the Temple and said, ‘Listen, you are well now; so stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”(John 5:5-14)
Remember:
GOD FORGIVES AND GOD CONDEMNS
Opportunity exists and those who utilise it remember it’s an opportunity that brought the change. It’s an unforgettable thing keyed into memory and resonates through time and history. God selects difficult situations to establish His presence and teach lessons to those still in doubt.
In life, every day that walks in is an opportunity to retrace and retract steps and return to God.
Ourworldindata.org estimated that some 61million people died in 2023 in the world. This came to some 167,000 persons a day. Every day of last year God kept us away from that number, we must reflect to thank God.
And yet in our projections and endeavours we underestimate and ignore the variables that underscore our existence and focus on the vanities of this world; remember that this earth only provides a temporary and transitional camp for us.
The man who had been sick for thirty eight years utilised the opportunity of the presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who agreed with the challenges he faced and the efforts made. His heart spoke more than his deed and he was healed.
Today we don’t have Our Lord Jesus Christ in person, He exists in word and present in spirit.
We must take the words of admonition to the healed man as also applicable to us, “stop sinning or something worse may happen to you”, this means that God forgives and God condemns.
AND in PRAYING
In praying we pour out and empty our hearts of desires; in most cases they are roped around emotions, worries and concerns. When we pray, let faith guide our intentions and bring our resolution to read, “you will show me the path that leads to life; your presence fills me with joy and brings me pleasure forever”(Psalm 16:11). May God answer our prayers.
AND in THANKSGIVING Thanking God is a measure of gratitude, and a mark of overwhelming faith. And on that note let us declare thus: “I will always thank you, God, for what you have done; in the presence of your people I will proclaim that you are good.”(Psalm 52:9). May we continue to thank God today and always. Amen.
Julius O. Dike
