Ordinary Time

Pause

It is time. It is time to be. Be still. Be silent if you can. Just be for a few moments.

The Good News will come to you, and God willing, come through you. Read, experience, and then share. But first, be.

Listen

When Jesus saw him lying there, knowing that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I don’t have anyone who can put me in the water when it is stirred up. When I’m trying to get to it, someone else has gotten in ahead of me.”

Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

John 5:6-8

Think

Back in the 1980s a girlfriend and I were at a concert of the band, The Go-Go’s. That night while the group performed it seemed like Susie and I were the only two people dancing to the music. Suddenly I felt a tap on my back. No, I was not asked to sit down. It was one of the band’s reps who asked me, “Do you want backstage passes?” I was flabbergasted. It was the last thing I expected to happen. It must have been my girlfriend’s nudge that made me blurt out what should have been obvious — “yes!”

Jesus asks us always, “Do you want to get well?” The answer is obvious, right?

This phrase from our passage might come at us out of nowhere, but it reminds us that Jesus knows everything about us, and that we can always turn to him. So, do you want to get well or better? Think about turning to Jesus who is looking to partner with you on the journey!

Peter Ackerman

Pray

Jesus, you know me like no other. You know more than I do what I am capable of, so please enter into my life today so that I may serve God with you working through me. Amen.

Go

You are never alone.

Remember this, and go out and find others; others who need the reminder of that Good News, and others who can bring God’s message to you.

Be who you are, and spread the Good News today.