Daily Devotion: Making Excuses

John 5:1-9
Jesus . . . asked [the sick man], “Do you want to get well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I don’t have anyone who can put me in the water when it is stirred up. When I’m trying to get to it, someone else has gotten in ahead of me.”
- John 5:6-7 (CEB)
The man in today’s reading had been sick for 38 years. (See John 5:5.) He had suffered all that time hoping for a cure — or just wanting a friend to lift him into the healing waters that he thought could make him well. Then Jesus came by and asked him a simple question: “Do you want to get well?” The man didn’t yell, “Yes, of course I want to get well!” at the top of his lungs as we might expect. Instead, he gave an explanation for why he hadn’t been made well up to this point.
We also may try to explain or even make excuses: why we were late to work, didn’t finish a project on time, or can’t change something in our lives. We can come up with a million excuses for why we can’t follow God. For me, those excuses include: I don’t have enough time, I’m too busy, I don’t have enough money, or I’m too afraid. Sometimes it seems we can’t even imagine the ways God can change us.
In today’s reading, Jesus listened to the man’s explanation and then healed him, right then and there. When we come to Jesus and ask to change, to be made well, we can lay down our excuses. And then we can begin to walk side by side with Jesus in a life more abundant than we could ever imagine.

Thought for the day: God is patiently drawing me closer.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for listening to us and calling us to change in ways we cannot have imagine. Amen.
Prayer focus: Those struggling in their faith.

The Author: Stephanie Marker

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mary - Obedient Servant

Image
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."  Luke 1:38 Gabriel's visit to Mary was unexpected and terrifying. But despite her fear and confusion, Mary didn't run from the situation. Instead, she listened with enough composure to understand the announcement. Then she asked a simple question, "How can this be?" Mary didn't question God's call on her life. She only asked for clarification. She wanted to understand the mechanics of how something that seemed in opposition to natural law could be accomplished. Once the angel answered that question, she yielded herself totally to God's plan. I can imagine that if an angel appeared to a teenage girl today with this shocking news - you're going to have a baby, although you are a virgin and unwed - there would be numerous questions or an exclamation of "No way!" I'm sure Mary realized the potential problems inherent in G...
Read more

Help! God is Punishing Me for My Poor Choices

Image
Let say you're a believing single christian, praying to God for a life partner. You meet someone you're attracted and interested in, who claims to be on the same faith level as you; deep within your spirit mind you can tell that something don't quite add up. You ignore every warning sign by the Holy Spirit!  You date and finally married this person and then realize the person was not truly who he/she claimed to be all along.  You find yourself in a miserable marriage that you consider a living hell; then you start believing that since you disobeyed the warnings of the spirit of God, it was all your fault. God is punishing you for making the wrong choice and the least you can do is to accept the circumstance the way it is.  The truth is God does not punish us for the poor choices we make.  II Peter3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises, as some understand slowness. Instead HE is patient with you, not wanting anyone to p...
Read more

Marvadene Anderson

Image
  I came across this pictures on social media though a little bit old but I can't help but to share them with you. Her name is Marvadene Anderson, a Jamaican women recognized as the world tallest teenager girl at 6 ft 11.5 in (2.12m)   She is 16 years- old in this Picture. Wow!
Read more