Savage2Saint Sobriety August 5, 2026

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?” - John 5:6 (NIV).

At some point in every bound, bruised, and broken life, the person has to decide: Do I want to get well or am I good with living in the ruins of my brokenness? No one wants to be broken, but sometimes we stay broken for so long that we begin thinking that our brokenness is just a normal part of life. Some of us have resigned ourselves to the idea that we somehow deserve the life we're living and that there's no hope for us. So, we stay right where we are. We lose years and years of our lives and our children's lives. We give up on the idea that any good will ever come from our situation, so we sit down in the wreckage, and we make it our very own personal "normal." But one question still begs to be answered: Do you want to get well?

In John 5, we see the story of a crippled man who had been laying by the pool of Bethesda for 38 years. 38 YEARS!?! In all that time he never made it to the healing waters of the pool. When Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed, the man blamed his situation on others not helping him and on those who made it to the pool before him. Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” - John 5:8 (NIV). Notice Jesus didn't offer to pick him up or ask one of His Apostles to lend a helping hand. Jesus told the crippled man to "Get up!" The man immediately got up and was healed (vs 9). The message to everyone is this: if you want to get out of the mess you're in, then you have to be willing to get up! Don't settle for barely getting by and always looking for someone to blame.

Regardless of how you got to where you're at, YOU have to be a willing participant in your own rescue. Jesus will do the miraculous in your life, but YOU have to decide: Do I want to get well or am I good with living in the ruins of my brokenness? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get on the other side of it? The man in the above picture is Darryl. Darryl decided on Saturday night to get up! Darryl ran to the altar and found the healing he so desperately needed! And the best part? If Jesus did it for Darryl, then He will do it for you, too. If you want to get well, it's time to get up. God Bless!!