Craig Clouston

 God’s Long Arm and the Blind Man

March 25

Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are

well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

John 5:14

There was a blind man who walked into an American pastor’s church in

Ukraine a few years ago. He came forward that night to receive Jesus Christ as

his Lord and Savior. When the pastor prayed for his salvation, he was instantly

saved and healed of his blindness! But, as it sometimes goes, temptation was

too great for him, and he once again found himself living a life of sin.

As in the story with the cripple Jesus healed at the pool of Bethesda, the

man was confronted with his return to a life of sin and told he might suf-

fer something worse if he continued. Realizing the truth of the statement,

he returned to this church, where he repented once again, this time with new

understanding, and began a new walk with the Lord. God’s righteous right

hand had sought him out. Thank God!

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We have a tendency to believe that once we are saved, we should be

through with sin. Yes, we have a desire to stop sinning; no, it isn’t automatic.

It is a process by which the Holy Spirit guides us into righteousness, which

translates to right living, not perfection.

Once we have accepted Jesus’ sacrifice, we are clothed in His righteous-

ness and are seen by the Father through Christ. It does not, however, remove

our free will by which we make choices. The longer and deeper we walk with

God, the closer we get and the less sin-filled life appeals to us. But, as with the

blind man, we are still capable of sinning. The danger at this point is that we

have already been forgiven our sins. By blatantly disregarding this, we open

ourselves up to a more extreme onslaught by the enemy, hence Jesus’ warning

to the man at Bethesda.

“God’s arm is not too short that it cannot save.” But sinning is not sup-

posed to be an option, despite the inevitable forgiveness we will receive from

our Creator.

Prayer

“Abba, almost all sin feels good for a while. Please lead

me into the truth of where that life leads and how it

separates me from You. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”