Pick Up Your Mat and Walk!
By Peggy Kleckner
“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”
John 5:8-9
By Peggy Kleckner
“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”
John 5:8-9
What kind of hold does the past have on us? The man in this story was an invalid for thirty-eight years. That is a large portion of any life.
Previous to this command, Jesus asked the man a question, “Do you want to get well?” I have always thought that question quite odd. What invalid doesn’t want to get well? Think with me for just a minute, though. If the greater part of your life has been spent as an invalid, you would now have new expectations put on you. Great changes would be before you and you would have much to learn. And, we can all agree that learning can be challenging.
The man never does directly answer Jesus’ question. Sometimes I think our hope is just about exhausted and we are afraid to dream of a new life. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t answer out loud. Thankfully, Jesus chooses to make him well.
I find it interesting that Jesus commands the man to get up, pick up the mat that he has been lying on and then walk. To me, the mat represents the man’s past. Jesus tells him to pick it up and then walk. His past no longer carries him along…he now carries it. He may need it now and then as a history lesson, or as a testimony to God’s grace, but it no longer has the power to define him. God’s grace now defines him. Walking denotes action. Jesus cured him and now he was free to take action, free to move forward, free to grow and learn a new life.
What a picture this is of a redeemed life! God wants to make us whole. Are we willing to pick up our mat and walk with Him?
GOING DEEPER:
1. What part of your past is still trying to define you?
2. What action step is God calling you to take?
3. Who can be encouraged by your story of Jesus’ grace?
FURTHER READING:
Mark 2:1-12; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Ephesians 2:8-10
Peggy is a wife and mother of four adult children—two sons and two stepsons and is an active encourager at Oakwood.
