BIBLE READING: John 5:1-15
We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
How can we honestly say that we are entirely ready for God to remove our defects of character? If we think in terms of all or nothing, we may get stuck here because we will never feel entirely ready. It is important to keep in mind that the Twelve Steps are guiding ideals. No one can work them perfectly. Our part is to keep moving, to get as close as we can to being ready.
In Jesus’ day there was a pool where people went, hoping to experience miraculous healing. “One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, ‘Would you like to get well?’ ‘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.’ Jesus told him, ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!’ Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!” (John 5:5-9).
This man was so crippled that he couldn’t go any farther on his own. He camped as near as he could to a place where there was hope for recovery. God met him there and brought him the rest of the way. For us, “entirely ready” may mean getting as close to the hope of healing as we can in our crippled condition. When we do, God will meet us there and take us the rest of the way.”
Excerpt From: Tyndale House Publishers. “The Life Recovery Bible NLT.
We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
How can we honestly say that we are entirely ready for God to remove our defects of character? If we think in terms of all or nothing, we may get stuck here because we will never feel entirely ready. It is important to keep in mind that the Twelve Steps are guiding ideals. No one can work them perfectly. Our part is to keep moving, to get as close as we can to being ready.
In Jesus’ day there was a pool where people went, hoping to experience miraculous healing. “One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, ‘Would you like to get well?’ ‘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.’ Jesus told him, ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!’ Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!” (John 5:5-9).
This man was so crippled that he couldn’t go any farther on his own. He camped as near as he could to a place where there was hope for recovery. God met him there and brought him the rest of the way. For us, “entirely ready” may mean getting as close to the hope of healing as we can in our crippled condition. When we do, God will meet us there and take us the rest of the way.”
Excerpt From: Tyndale House Publishers. “The Life Recovery Bible NLT.
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