MIDWEEK MEDITATION

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

John 5:6-10

The man’s excitement and wonder at the amazing healing that God had done in his life was doused by the cold waters of religion without relationship. 

The Pharisees should have been rejoicing to see the very work of God in their midst, yet all they could feel was offense that someone wasn’t living up to the list of do’s and don’ts they had cultivated over time, a list that went over and above what God had actually said. 

Jesus knew what the law of the Sabbath was intended for. It was a time to remember when the Israelites were slaves under the tyranny of Egypt and how God graciously brought them out of that place of death and declared them to be His people. The Law was given in the context of a relationship with God. Religion without relationship is a cold thing. 

The Pharisees had substituted good things, like studying the scriptures and obeying God’s commands, for the most important thing. In all their rules and religion, they missed an actual relationship with God and were dead inside. 

Our pursuit of God must always come in the context of a true relationship with Him, made possible by the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus warned, 
“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40)

What are you trusting in for life today?

Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that without Him I have nothing. Give me a heart of faith that overflows into a life of obedience. Keep me far from cold religion and renew my passion for You today.