Tuesdays Together

Welcome to Tuesdays Together in the Word. We are a group reading the bible together and sharing each week the nuggets that the Lord's Word has left with us. Join in with us, wherever you are. Please visit DeeDee for more Tuesday Together posts!!

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Have you ever watched a movie that did such a good job in taking you "with them" that it stayed with you for hours? days? weeks? You know those movies? The ones where the music, the scenery, the lighting,the acting, the characters, and story line are so woven together that you can't help but feel what the characters are feeling. The 'Lord of the Ring' movies are a good example. The overwhelming despair, the need for hope, the insurmountable task that lies ahead, the burden of being the chosen one, it is all there. Like a big thick heavy woven blanket.

Sometimes when I read scripture my imagination goes into overdrive. I can't help it. Like a movie running across the screen, I try to see and smell and wonder. Humor me and go with me to John 5 from our reading this week.

After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Betheseda in Hebrew, which has five colonnades. Within these lay a multitude of the sick- blind, lame, and paralyzed waiting for the moving of the water, because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who got in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment he had. One man was there who had been sick for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to get well?"

"Sir," the sick man answered, "I don't have a man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I'm coming someone goes down ahead of me." "Get up", Jesus told him, "pick up your bedroll and walk!" Instantly the man got well, picked up his bedroll, and started to walk. Now that day was the Sabbath, so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "this is the Sabbath! It's illegal for you to pick up your bedroll." (vs 1-10)

This story always stirs my imagination and my heart. Can you imagine? You are desperate. You have been waiting for 38 years. 38 years!!! Your companions are just as desperate as you are. Longing. Waiting. For waters to move. For an angel who comes time to time. You never make it in first because your ailment doesn't allow you to do so. Someone always moves in ahead of you. Such despair. Have you been there at the water the whole time? How long did it take you to get there? Did someone dump you off? What does it smell like there with all the other desperate people? Do the sounds and smells of the festival disturb you? Does ANYONE minister to you?

We are all spiritually desperate before accepting Christ. But have you ever met anyone who was as desperate as this man? In Christ, the man at the pool found mercy, hope, and a new beginning. He picked up his bedroll and walked. Imagine how his heart might have felt. A longing for help was answered. A miracle took place.

..... And all the hard hearted legalists could say was "it's the Sabbath, it's illegal".

My prayers today are for softer hearts, for longings, for miracles, and for Hope. Hope found only in Christ. May you, if you have not yet met Him, find Christ today and accept the miracle of His cross.