Pick up your mat

So why is it that when the Lord heals us of anything, we act as though nothing has changed. Maybe i am alone in this thought, but i have seen it in my life... often. I think it has a lot to do with an excuse mentality. We are all carrying or have carried something wether that be a sin struggle, a past triumph, a hardship, anything, we have all carried or are carrying something that is heavy and we take it with us everywhere. 

There is a story in John 5 about a man who had an infirmity for thirty- eight years who was sitting at the Pool of Bethesda. Jesus saw the man and asks, 

"Do you want to be made well? The sick man answered Him, 'Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.' "

Jesus asks a man who has been sick for almost 40 years if he wants to be made well and he responds with an excuse! The solution is in front of him, but he can only focus on why he can't. Jesus then responds,  

"Rise up, Take your mat and walk. And immediately the man was made well, took up his mat, and walked." 

I read this story and think this man is crazy, i'd say YES SIR i want to be made well hello? but than i realize i am usually the man on the mat. Everyday Jesus sits with me and says do you want to be made well? do you want me to carry that? do you want that to be lifted? Do you want me to take that lie and give you truth? and we hold on to what is now "comfortable" and we make an excuse when the cure is in front of us. I am reading a book called The Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel and he talks about this man and how when we don't think things in our life can change, it is because we are continually making excuses and not paying attention to surrendering to the solution.

John doesn't finish the story here, he says the man takes up his mat and walks. He does not receive Jesus's healing and continues sitting on his mat when he is made well to get up and live! No, he takes the mat he has always been sitting on and he walks away with it. Imagine the testimonies we would have to proclaim the grace of God if we would take what Jesus has made well in our lives and use it to tell of his goodness! I do not want to sit another day on my mat of comfort, telling Christ the cross wasn't enough for me because he has made me well, and i will take my mat and use it for His glory. No more excuses. The Lord has made us well, now what do we do with it?

We get to change the world!

the idle clock

All year long i long for summer. I have a mental list of all the things i want to do but never have time for. Now summer is here, time is plenty, and that mental note seems to have completely disappeared. I realize during less busy seasons how much i love having a task or job or anything even if it's just reading itself. Before school got out during finals week i had a surprisingly large amount of extra time. I spent my time basically almost daily at Sweet Eugene's meeting with people i do not always get a lot of time to see and reading, a lot. After about 3 days of this i started feeling to spiritually dry thus so thirsty!

I didn't understand why i wasn't being fed and staying full on Gods Word. Then one day the Lord took me to Colossians 3:5

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.

See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil - -  Ephesians 5:15-17 

I had never heard of redeeming the time, and began learning that it meant to buy back, to rescue time. Verse 14 says,

Awake you who sleep, Arise from he dead, And Christ will give you light.

(does this not get you pumped?) We are all called to use our short piece of time on this earth wisely because this is the only time we will ever have to serve the Lord, one day we will be with him in GLORY so this IS the time!
Proverbs 19:15, says an idle person will suffer hunger and in proverbs 31: 27,

She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness

The virtuous wife and woman is a busy woman, one who does not partake in idleness. Being the busy person i am, this got me pumped. It was time i stared rescuing time i lose by simply not acknowledging the value in it. Although i was spending time in the Word i was not being fed because i had so much idle time and spent the rest of it reading, but my idle time was great. I was so thankful the Lord showed me this truth before summer. I always want to be hungry for Gods word, but i want to always feed me. Now this is not to say relaxing and not having a schedule is bad, in fact i think it is  incredibly healthy for those season, however, i believe in those seasons our time should be filled with God and that should be our plan.

So what is your idle clock ticking towards? Netflix? Sleeping all day? It is time to WAKE up and arise, because the King is coming to redeem the time and to take us back and He is coming soon. I don't want to waste another idle minute, because the clock is continually ticking.