Fourth Tuesday of Lent

“Do you want to be well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.

Jesus asks all of us if we want to be healed of our sins and how we answer determines whether or not we are. Some of us are too self-centered or stubborn to ask for help. We think we can take care of everything ourselves. However, we should remember that we cannot heal ourselves. Every time we attempt to do so we are like the sick man before Jesus comes to him. We see a possible solution and clamber after it only to discover it is another roadblock. We must be willing to listen for God’s saving question, "Do you want to be well?" If we do, then we need to answer Him and be willing to do whatever He tells us to do. When we do trust the Lord and follow his commandments, we rise up healed of our afflictions.

Do we want to be well? If so, then what is God asking us to do? What are the problems in our lives which distract us from the offer of salvation, which God gives us each day?

O Lord, we want to be well. Heal us.

Amen.