Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2: 0:21

All right, welcome back to day four, as we have been doing a deep dive on John, chapter 5. We're going to pick it up in verse 2. This is the event of the healing of the pool of Bethesda. Before we jump in, I've got to ask you a question Do you tend to make excuses or to make it happen? I mean, anybody that I've ever met that makes excuses are not the kind of people that make it happen. So, do you make excuses or do you make it happen? John 5, 2.

Speaker 2: 0:51

Now there is in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roof colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids blind, lame and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years, and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him here's the million dollar question do you want to be healed? Now again, like we talked about yesterday, seems like the obvious answer is of course I want to be healed. But look at what the sick man answers. The sick man answered him. Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up and while I am going another steps down before me. There were some ancient traditions that are listed in some of the older manuscripts, but not all manuscripts that there was this myth or tradition that an angel would stir up the water and whoever got into the water first was the one to be healed. And so this man is sitting there for 38 years, and whenever he saw the water stirred up, he wasn't able to get in. And when Jesus asked him the million dollar question, the maker of all things, the maker of miracles himself is eyeball to eyeball with this man and says how about you, buddy? Do you want to be healed? What this man's immediate reaction is is he makes excuses, and the reason that this man is complaining is because he's looking to the wrong source. That's not fair. It's not my fault, I'm a victim. Sound familiar, it sounds like our culture today.

Speaker 2: 2:24

And the answer when Jesus asked do you want to be healed? The answer is yes. You see, jesus is so much more gracious than I would be, I think, if I walked up to the man and I said, hey, you want to be healed, and he began to whine and complain well, it's not my fault, I can't get in the water. I'd be like, well, fine, you just lay there and you'd be paralyzed for the rest of your life and I would just start healing everybody else around him and be like, hey, I'll heal you and I'll heal you. And if he were to say, well, what about me? I'm like, nah, bro, you had your chance. You see, I am allergic to complaining and excuses, but praise God, jesus is so much more patient with you and I than I am.

Speaker 2: 3:07

So let me ask you this question when in your life are you making excuses instead of making a difference? You know we have all been called to the Great Commission to take the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, to every tribe, tongue and nation, that Jesus told us that we were to be witnesses wherever we go, in Jerusalem, judea, samaria and to the very ends of the earth. Are you making it happen or are you making excuses? Or men, how about in your marriage? My Bible says that we are supposed to love our wives as Christ loved the church, and so are you. And if your immediate answer is, yeah, but you don't understand my wife, I mean, she's not nice to me and sometimes, sometimes she's mean and she doesn't do what I want and she doesn't give me enough sex. And she doesn't make a sandwich when I ask you, know who you sound like? You sound like the invalid laying by the pool of Bethesda that's just whining in his own filth and sorrow, instead of being the man of God that God has called us to be.

Speaker 2: 4:01

Are you making excuses or are you making a difference? How about in pushing back darkness? I mean, this is what Kyle talks about all the time. What are you doing in this world? To fight against darkness, to call out the lies of this world? To fight for the poor, to fight for the marginalized, to fight for those that cannot fight for themselves? Are you just the kind of person that's just sitting on the sidelines making excuses and being critical of those who are in the fight, or are you actually in the arena doing what God has called us to do? Men, daily Blade men, may we be the kind of men that are about the kingdom's business. May you quit feeling sorry for yourself. May you get off the mat and do what the king has told you to do. Quit with the excuses and be obedient to what Jesus says. You can make excuses or you can make a difference. You'll never make both.

Speaker 1: 4:58

Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.