December 17 “Being Made Whole…” John 5:14
Good morning from Pastor Glen Brock, Baptist Tabernacle Church, Wendell, North Carolina… “Afterward Jesus findeth him in the Temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” (John 5:14)
Jesus went to the Temple and saw the man there, that He had healed, when He told him to, “take up his bed and walk!” Later Jesus saw him again and told him that “He was made whole, so go and do not sin, or something worse will come upon you!” This man’s life was a mess! He followed the command of Jesus, and he was “Made Whole!” Throughout the New Testament, we are instructed to follow Christ, to walk in His will; to be a reflection, of His Love, yet, sadly, we are not good at following directions. Today, I am hearing many people complain that this world is in a sorry mess. I agree! When I was a boy, my Daddy and I would put together jigsaw puzzles. Daddy used every opportunity to teach me things about geography, art, patience, and many other things. He had gotten a world map puzzle, and he poured out the pieces and challenged me to put it together, on my own, and, if I was successful, within 2 days, that he would bring me to the Wayne Dairy Bar for one of their amazing Vanilla shakes. With my thoughts on the prize and not on the task ahead, I plowed into the job at hand. What a Mess! All, of the pieces were colored, basically the same, and I sat, gazing at this confusion of shapes and colors, before me! How was I going to bring order out of this jumbled up mess? The time was growing short, and the task was still daunting, yet, as Daddy entered the room for the finale, there it was, right there on the table, all of that jumbled up mess was the perfect picture of the world! Every piece fitted together to make an orderly and beautiful picture. “Son, how did you do this? I thought that this would take a week, at least, to complete!” I looked at Daddy, with a big smile and I said, “Well, I struggled in the beginning, then I realized that there was a picture of a man on the back of the puzzle and once I focused on him, the world just fell into place!” By the way, I received my “shake!” Do you feel that your world is a jumbled-up mess? Are you struggling to make sense of the chaos? I was floundering and I tried every way possible to make sense of the mess, with zero success, finally I realized that the very first thing that I had to do was to go to the Father and let Him straighten me out! There, on the back of the puzzle box, was a picture of a man, and the world formed around him, and when I concentrated on the man, then my “world” just fell into place! Do you understand the message? When you are straight with THE MAN; then your WORLD will, also, “GET STRAIGHT!” Praise God, that He brings order, out of chaos, and disorder of this old world! Remember, what God does with you is entirely up to you! It always has and it always will! Stay Strong, Stay Focused…THE BEST IS YET TO BE!