Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
TUESDAY, January 26 (Timothy and Titus, Companions of Saint Paul)
John 5:1-18. Do you want to be made well?
Don't we all want to be made well? Don't we all pray for Jesus to show up in our lives and make everything well?
The man who had been ill for thirty-eight years had prayed to be made well, but it wasn't until Jesus showed up that his prayers were answered. But notice that he never directly answered Jesus' question. He simply said he had no one to help him. Jesus healed him by giving him the power to stand and walk. The healing wasn't in the waters of the pool, but in Jesus' command.
Our healing comes in the same way--not from stepping into pools, possibly elbowing someone else out of the way so that we can get there first, but from simply getting up and walking.
A friend counsels me: "When you don't know what to do next, just do the next most obvious thing." When that next thing is hard to discern, we need to listen as Jesus speaks to us, face to face: Stand up ... and walk.
Get up. Walk forward. Listen to Jesus. Trust that Jesus indeed is sending us out, that he is leading us.
This is how we are healed.
PRAY for the Diocese of Aotearoa (New Zealand)
Ps 45 * 47, 48; Genesis 15:1-11, 17-21; Hebrews 9:1-14
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