11.5.24. Praising God

John 5 It is interesting to me, the reader, to see the travels of Jesus. We saw him in Cana, then in Samaria, and now back in Jerusalem. Each place his foot trod, he found the needy and met those needs practically be it water or by healing a cripple. He never tired or quit looking. His eyes were everywhere looking for that one person who needed something to make their life full. He continues to do that even today through His Word. What do you need today? Jesus is right there beside you to meet your needs. 

Are you like Jesus looking for the needy in your community? Or are you satisfied it just let others do it? Take for example the story of when Jesus heals a lame man on the Sabbath. The man didn’t know who Jesus was but he complied with his instructions to take up his bed and walk.  It seems he never looked back and never said thank you. Instead he meandered all through Jerusalem with his old mat signifying his before status. In the meantime the religious leaders found him and were quick to judge the healed man. Imagine being accosted by the religious “police” and you have no response to their queries! But, Jesus finds him and warns him to not sin again and then he quickly tells the authorities about him. Do you find that strange? What does this say about this man and about us? 

Put yourself in the position of the healed man and ask yourself, am I the person who receives that special gift from the Lord and fail to stop and thank Him? Do I tattle on the one who made me well? Do I make judgments about another’s work and even more so if it is the work of God? The Pharisees were quick to make judgments, but not praise for a work done by God. Jesus reminded them that Moses wrote about Him and if they were students of Moses they would be doing as he did—-obeying and honoring God. They had the false idea that salvation was in his words, not the words of God. 

What need do you have today? Are you quick to receive but slow to give thanks? Do you seek salvation in the words of Moses or the words of God?