Gospel Reading:  John 5:1-16

1 Some time later, there was a religious gathering of the Jews. Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 In Jerusalem there is a pool with five porches called Bethesda near the sheep gate. 3 Inside these porches lay many sick people. Some were blind. Some could not walk. Some could not move their bodies. 4 An angel of the Lord came at certain times and made the water move. All of them were waiting for it to move. Whoever got in the water first after it was moving was healed of whatever sickness he had.

 5 A man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 Jesus saw him lying there and knew the man had been sick a long time. Jesus said to him, "Would you like to be healed?" 7 The sick man said, "Sir, I have no one to put me in the pool when the water is moving. While I am coming, another one gets in first." 8 Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your bed and walk." 9 At once the man was healed and picked up his bed and walked. This happened on the Day of Rest.

 10 The Jews said to the man who had been healed, "This is the Day of Rest. It is against the Law for you to carry your bed." 11 He said to them, "The Man Who healed me said to me, 'Pick up your bed and walk.' 12 Then the Jews asked him, "What man said to you, 'Pick up your bed and walk'?" 13 The man who had been healed did not know Who He was. Jesus had gone away while many people were there.

 14 Later Jesus found the man who had been healed in the house of God. He said to him, "Listen! You have been healed. Stop sinning or something worse will come to you." 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus Who had healed him. 16 Because Jesus did these things on the Day of Rest, the Jews made it very hard for Him.

Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12

1 Then he brought me back to the door of the house. And I saw water flowing from under the doorway toward the east, for the house looked toward the east. The water was flowing from under the right side of the house, from south of the altar. 12 All kinds of fruit trees will grow on both sides of the river. Their leaves will not dry up, and they will never stop giving fruit. They will give fruit every month because their water flows from the holy place. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing." (Ezek. 47:1,12)

Meditation: God wants to free us from the power of sin and make us whole. But he will not force our hand against our will. The first essential step towards growth and healing is the desire for change. If we are content to stay as we are, then no amount of coaxing will change us.  The Lord manifests his power and saving grace towards those who desire transformation of life in Christ. The Lord approaches each of us with the same probing question: “Do you really want to be changed, to be set free from the power of sin, and to be transformed in my holiness?”

Prayer: “Lord Jesus, put within my heart a burning desire to be changed and transformed in your holiness. Let your Holy Spirit change my heart and renew me in your love and righteousness.

Psalm 46:2-9

2 So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and the mountains fall into the center of the sea,
 3 and even if its waters go wild with storm and the mountains shake with its action.

 4 There is a river whose waters make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High lives.
 5 God is in the center of her. She will not be moved. God will help her when the morning comes.
 6 The people made noise. The nations fell. He raised His voice and the earth melted.
 7 The Lord of All is with us. The God of Jacob is our strong place.

 8 Come and see the works of the Lord. He has destroyed parts of the earth.
 9 He stops wars to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burns the war-wagons with fire.