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After a critical examination of the year-round chaotic situation by the pool of Bethesda (See Christians at the Pool of Bethesda, Part 1) we studied 'The Man'. We saw how unfamiliar with Gus he was, how focused he was on his challenges, and how stagnant his life was. We then came to the conclusion that adversities would definitely come in life, but we must learn to live a life of praise; we also came to the conclusion that God's grace and mercy is far-reaching, even to the lost and ignorant. That was why the former slave trader who saw his filthiness and considered himself irredeemable looked at God's saving grace and composed the hymn, 'Amazing Grace's.
After this we move to what comes next after 'The Man', it's:
The Pool
The pool of Bethesda was at Jerusalem, the holy city, the center of worship for the Jews. The pool was stirred by the angel once every year; the first person to jump into the pool at that moment would receive healing. The pool here signifies the cares of the world. The cares of the world include a lot of things, but it is mainly made up of our wants and desires. To want something is not sinful, but to place above the Most High God is a sin.
Let me tell you something: Money has the capability to solve all of a person’s financial difficulties, but this doesn’t mean that the lottery is the only way to make money. Similarly, there is more to life than trying to solve your problems. If Fanny Crosby had spent her life in self-despair about being blind, the world would have been bereft of over 5000 life-transforming hymns. You can live your life instead of trying to perfect your life; the lame man wasn’t living; he was just alive. Like the parable of the talent, God has made ample provision for each and every one of us.
The wonder of the pool of Bethesda is just one of the ways God use to glorify Himself. Christians have allowed Satan to take advantage of them, we have forgotten that one of his foremost strategies is to pervert every beautiful thing. The pool was meant to bring relief and heal, but Satan turns man’s want for healing into an unhealthy obsession (where you don’t find pleasure in living the life that God has given you) thereby creating the scenario of “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick…” (Proverbs 13:12 KJV). Beware the enemy: Satan!
At times, we humans are so fixated on solving our problems, or trying to gain one achievement or the other, that we end up forgetting the purpose of our creation “they shall shew forth my praise” (Isaiah 43:21 KJV). Is your life showing the praise of God, or are you vying for the accolades of men? Jesus loved the man that came to Him to enquire about inheriting eternal life. This man had an interest in what comes after life here on earth, Christ gave him the laws and the man said he had done all those things since he was young, Christ loved him all the more. But when Jesus told him to sell all properties and give the money to the poor, the man left sorrowful.
These are things that can burn, spoil, be broken, and are limited; they go with the passage of time. They are the cares of the world. It was a pity that a man who knew the importance of life eternal still clung to the things of this world. Demas was another example of somebody who loved “this present world” more than following Christ.
This is the pitiable condition of Christians today, we are standing at the edge of the pool, while Jesus is at our back. We have closed our eyes to Him, in fact, we don’t recognize Him again; our wants, needs, and lust of the flesh has consumed us. If only we can really open our eyes and look at our reflection in the pool, we would see someone, wretched and empty; living a life with Christ relegated to the background.
Finally, we have:
Jesus
There is good news for us, you don’t have to go through your challenges alone, and you don’t have to spend your life by the pool of Bethesda in despair. Why? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV). It’s a privilege to give you this good news.
Jesus came to the temple one day, He was given the book of Prophet Isaiah to read, He said: “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18,19 KJV). And after reading this he said something exciting, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:20 KJV).
The fact that it is fulfilled simply means that we don’t have to worry about our problems anymore (See 1 Peter 5:7), we should just focus on serving God without constrainst, cares, or worries (See Hebrew 12:2) because God has everything under control.
Finally brethren, we have started from the man (ourselves), then the pool (the cares of the world), and finally, Jesus (the author and finisher of our faith). Jesus is all that matters.
John Oguntoyinbo
Content writer, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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