Now
You Are Well
So
Stop Sinning
Or
Something Even Worse May Happen To You.
Scripture
John
5
3 Crowds of
sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5 One
of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When
Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked
him, “Would you like to get well?”
7 “I
can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me
into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets
there ahead of me.”
9 Instantly,
the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!
But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish
leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t
work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that
sleeping mat!”
13 The man
didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But
afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you
are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to
you.”
Observation
After
lying crippled and sick for 38 years by the pool
of Bethesda, hoping to one day get well this man was healed by Jesus.
Evidently
his 38 years of sickness and misery, his not being able to even walk
was all caused by sin.
After
Jesus healed this crippled man, Jesus said to him, “now you are
well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you”.
Worse
than the previous 38 years!
This
story is a reminder to me that my sin and your sin always has
consequences. And yes, unless we stop sinning, something even worse
may happen to us!
There
is an umbrella of God's protection and blessing that is over us when
we live godly lives. Once we step out from under that umbrella of
God's protection and begin to practice sin that is when you and I
will reap the consequences of our sin.
And
yes, it can and usually does get a lot worse!
Psalm
32
1 Oh,
what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,[b]
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude
5 Finally, I
confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
6 Therefore,
let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
Application
I
will confess my sins as I commit them and I will try to help those
who have fallen and who are now living in sin. How about you?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I am
so broken over the direction and the decisions that some men, some
who are my friends and some who are part of family have taken in
recent days. I know from Your Word that they are on very dangerous
ground. I pray for them. I pray that they stop sinning before
something worse happens to them. Do whatever it takes to turn their
lives around. I pray for those who have been hurt by their sin. Give
those loved ones the strength not to give up. Help them to be ready
to accept these men back when they turn their lives around and when
these men start walking with You again. You are a Mighty God. Nothing
is too hard for you!
Daily
Bible Reading: John 5,6
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