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Do You Want To Be Made Well?
Brian Mashburn
March 18, 2007
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On Being Healed...
Master: Do you want to be made well?
Disciple: Yes, Master.
Master: From what do you want this healing?
Disciple: You have forgiven me of my sins, what do I still lack?
Master: Full life...I paid for it and intend it.
Disciple: Is not the forgiveness of sins life, Great Teacher?
Master: What does the forgiveness of sins give to you?
Disciple: Freedom to be in relationship with the Father without guilt or reservation.
Master: And so what is life? Is it the forgiveness of sins or the freedom to bask in relationship with the Father without hindrance?
Disciple: Rabbi, you know all things. And you have told me many times that life is the latter.
Master: Then do you have this relationship with the Father? Do you live in it, from it, growing daily in love with God and increasing in the skillfulness with which you give it to others?
Disciple: Again, you know all things. You know that I do not.
Master: So I will ask you again. This time you may answer with more insight. It is an exceptional offer from me to you, this question. Do not answer lightly, nor quickly, until you know what I am offering. You will do my Father very little good in the world as His ambassador of healing until you both know the extent to which you need it and the extent to which He offers it. Now, my friend, do you want to be made well?
One thing that unites all people is the need for healing.
Some don't know they want healing, too addicted to the perks of not having it, or fearing the responsibility of health. Some don't know they need healing, thinking it a weakness to admit their need, or thinking they already have it in full, or ignorant because the un-eventfulness of their life has blended it into the woodwork rendering it almost invisible to themselves. And some don't think they can have healing, overcome with the sheer size of their guilt or pain, imagining it bigger than the Christ who asks confidently the question that confronts all people with the opportunity of their lives...
"Do you want to be made well?" (John 5:6)
Soon, you will be called to offer healing (also known as salvation) to the people around you. And only healed people heal people. Do you have what Christ has offered?