Day 6: Priorities

Day 6:
Theme: Priorities
Passage: John 5:1-15

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
7"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
8Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

Can you picture the scene with me? Here we find Jesus, after having a tough time even getting alone, due to his popularity, and we find him alone. Alone and walking.

Here he is the Messiah, and we read that it was a feast of which commentators say it was the Passover. So for a Jew that was sort of like the Grand Hoopla of feasts. Jews came from hundreds of miles, flocking to the city of Jerusalem to be at the temple for this day. Yet Jesus was not there.

Imagine this city full of travelers from all over. I wonder if Simon of Cyrene is in the crowd this year as well; the same hustle and bustle that he came to just a few years later to play the role of Cross bearer.

Yet Jesus was not to be found at the temple taking part in the crowd’s grand festivities. He was walking, alone, among the hurting. If you have ever seen a city during a huge event, a Thanksgiving Day parade in New York, or a Olympic procession, then you know what that brings to the city that is hosting it. Money! Affluence! People have saved all year to come to the city and spend their money on the latest dyes from Phoenicia, or the latest Fabrics from the Syria. But they in all their religious traditions have forgotten the basic of acts, to watch after the poor and suffering.

The pool in Bethesda was a known place where the sick would come. The belief was that an Angel would stir the water and the first person in would be healed. So there was nothing abnormal about this day. All those in Jerusalem knew that this was the place where the sick and suffering would be. So they did what many of us do; they stayed away from this gate.

But not Jesus.

Jesus always seems to be in the places where we need him the most. Helping us out when we need him the most. Jesus was where he needed to be. Those in the temple didn’t need him. They had their acts of religion, their sacrifices and traditions to complete so as to make it one more year. So Jesus went to those who would passionately accept him. If you want proof of this, look at what the man did:

…He (Jesus) asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
“Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

Do you read any hesitation in this statement “he picked up his mat and walked?” To me I read it more in the “IMMEDIATELY He picked up his mat…” Can you imagine the trust and belief that this man had in Jesus? This passage doesn’t tell us he knew who Jesus was. It doesn’t say that, as with others, that he sought Jesus out and cried out to him “Have mercy on me!” All indication is that this man had absolutely no CLUE that the God of the entire Universe, who loves him more than anything, was standing before him telling this invalid to stand up.

Yet HE OBEYED ANYWAYS!

Are you facing a choice in your life? To Trust God regardless of your gut, regardless of what seems to make logical sense? Do you need to take a step out in faith and place your priorities straight? Maybe it is in your finances as you prepare for this trip. The cost seems over whelming, the support doesn’t seem to be coming in and you are allowing panic and fear to settle in. Give it to Jesus.
Maybe you have a life choice to make, a career move, something that will possibly impact your future. Your worried, your nervous. Give it to Jesus. He begs of you to tie your burdens to him so he can help you carry it.

Reflection:
Are you ready to give him Lordship of your life?

Are you ready and willing to settle the priorities issues in your life today?

Is your time, your talent, and your treasure all firmly secured in Christ or are you trying to hold on to it?