JESUS SAYS TO WALK

John 5:8 "Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."

There is no biblical record that the impotent man did answer the question that Jesus asked. However, our verse of focus shows Jesus' response to the man. "Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."

Jesus' command to the disabled man included three actions-rise, take up and walk. Those were actions that the feeble, paralyzed man could not perform with help, for he was in the state of impotence for thirty-eight years. Yet, Jesus, the Creator of the Universe, with whom nothing is impossible, gave the man, what appeared to be an impossible feat.

Psalms 33: 9 states, "For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast."

There is power in every word that Jesus speaks. Whatever He commands, He enables us to accomplish.

If allowed, our past will keep us in the doldrums; in the malaise; in a condition of weakness and frailty.  Jesus is our present, our gift of enabling. He is saying to us bury the past and embrace the present, 'rise, take up and walk. To rise is to get up; to change position from downward to upward; and to grow. Growth is development.

Jesus desires for us to grow and blossom in every area of our lives. "Take up your bed" means that with God's help, whatsoever was our crutch or our enabler will cease to be. Trust Jesus, He is our strength, our power and support.

Not  only does Jesus want us to rise and 'take up our beds', but He wants us to walk; to exercise the very muscles that were once weak and flabby.  He wants us to walk by faith and not by sight. Sometimes what we see can be frightening; but faith is always enlightening. May we, through God's enabling power grab hold of faith and walk.