The case of the crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda really has troubled me… I have tried to imagine how he must have felt, year after year, of “not being first one in.”

The Angel of the Lord only came down to “trouble the water,” at a “certain season.” That might have been once or twice a year… but, to a crippled man who had been like this from birth, there had never been any chance of him “getting in first.” I don’t know why he never had anyone carry him into the pool. I have pondered this so much. It must have been like kids jumping into a pool in their neighborhood, during a school break, kicking, screaming, pushing, yelling, maybe fighting. I am sure there must have been some of this at the pool, and I can see that poor man, clutching the leg of someone, begging for them to lift him and put him into the pool. We are all like that sometimes… “too busy to help.”

But for this man, “today is different!” Jesus, the one who had created everything, even the “Angel who troubled the water,” had been watching him and knew that he had been sick for a long time. He sees the man reaching out his trembling hand, begging, pleading and He says, “Do you want to be made whole?” Of course, he did!

He tells Jesus, “I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool, but while I am coming, another steps down before me…”

Have you felt like that? It seemed that “everyone else” got a raise but you didn’t. Everyone else got healed, but you didn’t. Everyone else’s son got delivered from drugs, but yours is still bound? But, something must have told the crippled man, “today is your day!” You don’t need the water! You don’t need to be “the first one in!” The Healer is going to give you “His personal attention!” And Jesus did! He said, “Rise, take up thy bed and walk!” Wow!

So, “if today isn’t your day,” don’t be discouraged! Keep on believing and “never give up!” When Jesus comes, you’ll be “the first one in!” Have a great day!

Sherry