Morning Devotional

October  18, 2005
"Whaddyathink?"      
    by Don Emmitte

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Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people--blind, lame, or paralyzed--lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew how long he had been ill, he asked him, "Would you like to get well?" (John 5:1-6 NLT).

You know the story that our reading today comes from. Jesus sees a man who is paralyzed and lying beside the Pool of Bethesda. He asks him “whaddyathink?” Well, maybe not in those words, but just as much so. Jesus asks if he wanted to be well? Before I go too much further, let me say that this devotional today is NOT about having enough faith to make you well. Sometimes we have plenty of faith, but we still are not granted our specific prayers for healing or restoration. This question of Jesus to this man was not designed to being him into guilt or condemnation, but to show him a direction in life to overcome his circumstance.

No matter how weak or unworthy we may be in ourselves, the power, which rules over our destiny, gives us all a chance. God is not partial. He does not select a small group from the great crowd as objects of His special favor, and say to the rest, "You have no chance." God holds open the door of opportunity for all of us. He may not give all of us the chance for money or fame. What he gives us is an equal chance to live life in spiritual abundance. And, after all, isn’t that more important than the “stuff” of life?

A man may lose his chance. Some never see opportunities. This was the design of Jesus’ question. He may have developed a sense of dullness through the long ordeal of his disability.  This can happen to us too. Every day becomes humdrum and every hour uneventful. You may have come to believe that all the opportunities are either behind, or they belong to someone else. I read a great story recently about a glasscutter who let some aqua fortis fall on his glasses. He noticed that the glass was softened where the acid fell. This was his opportunity. Most people would have said, "My glasses are ruined." But he drew some figures on a piece of glass, covered them with varnish, applied the acid, and it cut the glass around the figures. The result was that etching upon glass was added to the ornamental arts. He made use of this opportunity because he had his eyes open.

A great opportunity usually does not come with a blare of the trumpet. It often announces its presence with a whisper. Too many folks are looking for something big and miss their opportunity for greatness. It is said that one vote (the vote of a man who was brought from the corn field to the polls by one who paid him fifty cents for his day's work and gave him his boots to wear and horse to ride) decided the succession of events, which secured the admission of the State of Texas to the Union. Little things are often momentous. Please be encouraged today to keep your eyes open, your hands active, and your heart pure. Whaddyathink? Are you ready for your opportunity?