July 17, 2024 Devo

In 2018, a 68-year-old man by the name of William J. Gallagher, walked into a bank in Milwaukee. He walked up to a teller and told her that he had a bomb. He then demanded cash in the form of $100 bills. She complied. After she stacked the money in front of him, he thanked her, picked up the money, and then told her to call the police. She was confused. She said, “Are you serious?” He nodded. So, she did. He then turned, sat down, and waited for the police to come and arrest him. Bill was a career criminal, who had just recently been released from serving 20 years in a prison in New Jersey. Prison was what he knew. Prison was what he was comfortable with. So, prison is where he wanted to be. He simply heard that Wisconsin prisons had better food and health care.
Hold that thought, because it’s powerful. Some people don’t want to be free. They just want to be a little more comfortable in the prison that they’re in. They don’t want to adjust to life outside of their prison. They don’t want to learn a different way to live, a different way to think, or a different way to relate to others. Some people would rather live as victims than go through the hard work of living as victors. Some people would rather stay where they are and blame the world around them for their circumstances than take responsibility for their own lives and become who God has called them to be.
That’s why Jesus’ question to the man in our story is such an important one. “Would you like to get well?” For thirty-eight years this man has laid by this pool. He knows how to beg. He knows to lay. He has learned how to moan and groan and get the attention and sympathy of those who are passing by. Does he REALLY want to change? Does he REALLY want to learn a trade, find a job, and have responsibilities? The question Jesus is asking is huge. Because believe it or not, some people don’t want to be healed. Some people don’t want to be whole. Some people would rather just like to be made more comfortable in their misery, more comfortable as a victim, more comfortable in their addiction. How about you? Do you want to be “well” or do you simply want a more comfortable prison? Jesus is asking. That’s God’s Word for you today.