Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

"Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, 'Do you want to be made well [whole]?'"¹

If I were to ask you if you want to be made whole, I'm sure you would say yes. But what does it mean to be whole? Simply put, it means to become a whole person especially in mind and spirit; that is, to become emotionally well, and spiritually well. Quite a challenge to be sure.

As long as we live in our human body we will be subject to sickness and disease. However, the more whole we become emotionally and spiritually, the healthier we are more likely to be physically. Unresolved spiritual and/or emotional issues make us much more susceptible to illnesses of all kinds.

For instance, a person whose life is riddled with guilt because of unconfessed sin, or is nursing a grudge and refusing to forgive someone who has hurt him or her is more than likely to get sick physically and/or mentally. Many an ulcer, for example, is caused not so much by what we are eating but by what is eating us on the inside. And when I repress super-charged negative emotions, as John Powell puts it, "My stomach keeps score."

While the principle for being made well/whole is simple, the process is anything but simple. That is, if we want to be made well/whole, we need to resolve all past hurts, forgive anyone and everybody who has ever hurt us, face and resolve every buried negative emotion, deal with and resolve any unconfessed sin, and make our life right with God.

Remember, too, there is a world of difference between a want and a wish. To be made well/whole takes total commitment, personal honesty, and determination. The half-hearted never make it. They may wish to get well but they don't want it badly enough to be willing to pay the price of doing what it takes to be made well/whole.

Jesus' invitation is still available. Receiving the answer is up to each one of us. Do you truly want to be made whole/well? For only to the degree that we are made whole will our lifestyle, our behavior and actions, our manner of living, and our relationships be wholesome.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to understand fully what it means and what it takes to be made whole, and give me the courage and will to do what I need to do in order to be made whole. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus's name, amen."

1. John 5:5-6 (NKJV).

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