Title: Three Lifestyles to Pursue
1. A life of gratitude
Why did the Lord say, “Take up your bed and walk” while healing a 38-year-old man? It does not mean to keep public morals well, but it also means to always remember the place where you received grace and live with gratitude. Complaining, resentment, and hatred are shortcuts to disease, but gratitude and forgiveness are shortcuts to healing. God's command to give thanks in everything is ultimately a command for our health. Now keep looking for things to be grateful for. Then you have a lot to be thankful for.
There was a woman in Seoul who had three daughters. Her mother-in-law denounced her daughter-in-law as having caused the family to end, so there was no day that the blemishes on her face would come off. One day, she went to Anyang Prison for prison evangelism and found something to be thankful for. When I went to prison, there were no women and all were men. I was grateful for that. "God! Thank you for giving me only a daughter to reduce the chances of coming to a place like this.” From then on, the daughters, who only looked hateful, looked prettier than anyone else, and the blemishes on their faces disappeared.
If you look closely at the complaint, it is the title of thanks. Gratitude brings emotion and moves the heart of God. There is no need to go to a spiritual place to be moved by the Holy Spirit. Even when it is difficult to give thanks, if you give thanks, you will be moved by the Holy Spirit.
2. Obedience
The 38-year-old man obeyed the Lord's word and was healed (verses 8-9). Obedience is a sign of healing and a seed of maturity. When I have children work to train children to be obedient so that they can grow up healthy, I don't just say "Yes!", I say "Yes!" Mom!" or “your daddy!” or “Yes! I got it!” and advises them to say afterward. "Yes! If you are filled with the spirituality of obedience, “I understand!”, the healing work has almost reached the door.
Why did original sin arise? Original sin is not a crime committed by a rare murderer, but a simple sin. In other words, original sin was created through disobedience to God's word contained in the tree of knowledge. Disobedience makes the soul sick, and obedience heals the sick soul. Before God, who has infinite knowledge, it is the wisest thing for a person with limited knowledge to obey.
Of course, you must also have worldly knowledge. But make important judgments according to the Word. When President Kennedy of the United States took office, President de Gaulle of France recommended it. “You now have the greatest power in the world, and countless scholars and intellectuals will support you, but the final decision is to do God’s will, and you should make it yourself.” As such, when you refer to the world's knowledge but make the final judgment according to God's will, you become the healthiest and most blessed soul.
3. Holy Life
The Lord said this after a 38-year-old man was healed. “Sin no more, lest anything worse happen” (verse 14). After all, his 38-year-old chronic illness was caused by sin. Virtually all disease and anxiety are caused by sin. Therefore, the more you live a holy life, the greater your healing power will be. The problem is that many believers today misunderstand the 'holy life' as a life that behaves strangely.
There were many sermons like this in the old revival meeting. “One day, while I was praying in a mountain, the root of a tree was uprooted, and a burning fire pierced my chest and I received the Holy Spirit.” Hearing that, I also went to quite a few spiritual mountains, prayed all night on a rock, and prayed while holding onto a tree, but the holy life was not there. Being divine is not something strange or eccentric. In a word, spiritual things are like the Lord.
One day, when St. Francis was reading the Bible on the mountain, he was so moved by the love of the Lord that he confessed. "Lord! I want the Lord’s mark on me too.” At that moment, the image of the Lord was seen on the horizon in the distance, and I felt the intense pain of the cross all over my body. Since then, as he humbly practiced the life of the cross, he gradually heard the voice of a saint. The saint is not far away. A saint is an ordinary person who practices love with meekness and humility like Jesus.