"When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, 'Do you want to be made well?' "
At first glance Christ's question (above) to the lame man seems out of place. After all, doesn't everyone want to be "made well"? Actually, no; and this is why Jesus inquired of the infirm person. A lot of people are comfortable with their maladies--especially as it relates to a life of sin. They literally do *not* "want" to be made well.
It is actually a blessing to desire good things--and health and well-being are some of them. it is one thing to be unwell (in whatever way this may be); but it is quite another thing to be content to be in that state. God would have us desire Christ, wholeness, and all good things--as His beloved church.
[Puritan quote of the day: "Sometimes persons live in ways of sin and are not sensible of it because they are blinded by common custom and the examples of others." --Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon, "The Ne-
cessity of Self-Examination"]
