Would I rather be napping?

Today is International Nap Day, an unofficial holiday to help people catch up on their sleep the day after Daylight Saving Time goes into effect in the spring. In our home, we changed the clocks early on Friday evening and had a nap yesterday. Then I read a book about sleep and the dangers of sleep deprivation. It didn’t say anything about too much sleep, assuming that is rare in our society. Most people are into habits of going to bed too late, staying up to study, watch television, finish something, even working when they are over-tired. This book said many people feel like sleep is a waste of valuable time.

At the time of Christ, there were people who napped a great deal. They were unable to work or do much else due to a variety of health issues. Some of them would be so accustomed to a life of doing nothing that if they could be healed, they might not want it because of the changes demanded by being healthy.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 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.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. (John 5:2–9)

This pool was known to be a place of healing for the first person who stepped into it when it began to bubble or be stirred up. The man Jesus talked to could never get there in time. I could speculate. Was this a psychosomatic thing about the first person going into the pool? Was it something God was doing for the unfortunate? I’m not sure but I do understand one thing — Jesus asked a valid question!

Most people do not welcome long-term sickness yet being sick changes things. This man had no expectations to live up to, not his own or from others. He was an invalid. He could not work, have or raise a family or do much of anything. After a while, napping on the porch would be a persistent habit. Being well would change everything.

I can understand this a little bit. My heart has been acting up for several years. Even though a new pacemaker keeps it going, I still cannot lift anything. This means I need help to load/unload groceries from my car. I cannot help with setting up or taking down tables at our church brunch each Sunday and I always have an excuse to say no to anything that could stress me. If I was not able to use my computers or sewing machines, and if I was not exercising under the direction of a personal trainer, I’d be a total couch potato. Boring. If Jesus dropped by and asked me that question, would I want to go back to packing my own groceries and doing the chores that I pay others to do?

In the Bible, readers are often directed to put off the old self with its sinful desires and put on the new self given to us in Christ, a new life of actively serving others. The world is filled with needy people and situations that I could be involved in if I had the energy and strength to do so. Do I want to be healed? Or would I rather do the least that I can and opt out of anything that involves hard physical work?

This is an easy answer if it means doing more of what I want to do already. But it is not so easy when it involves doing difficult things in the kingdom of God and under the direction of His Spirit. I can easily make excuses for what I cannot do, but is that the will of God? Jesus listened to the man’s excuse then healed him anyway.

The man finally realized it was Jesus who healed him. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” (John 5:14) He connects sin with consequences — as if I didn’t already have enough to think about!

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Jesus, You promise to give grace in time of need. Right now, I need to be totally willing to do whatever You desire, without excuses or grumble, and be able to give You the glory for whatever happens. I also need to rely on Your strength, not just when mine fails but all the time.