Walking in newness of life
Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
So we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4
Read John 5:5—11
Tonight I have the opportunity for a face-to-face with Jesus. I think of this man, thirty-eight years an invalid. Thirty-eight years yearning to be better. All that time being let down, hoping, but having his hopes dashed. By now, had it been me, surely I would have given up ever seeing any change, any hope of life ever being any different for me. Is there something in myself that is like that? Something that has let me down so often that I feel it can never change? Am I ready, in the quietness of this night, for the encounter with Jesus that allows him to address my life? ‘Do you want to be made well? Stand up. Take your mat and walk.’
Prayer
Lord, thank you that you saw a man who must have been, surely, past all hope. You saw him. You addressed him. You changed him. You changed his situation. You see me. You know me. You know that thing in me that I have given up on, that makes me less the person I was made to be. Speak to me. Speak to what spoils my life. You died. By your stripes I am healed. You rose again for my life to be renewed and restored. Let me rise up and walk with you in the Spirit in newness of life.