It is never too late to start. A breath is the evidence that we have an opportunity to change something in our lives. So many times we box ourselves into our routines and cycles that can get just frustrating. Pause …Take a breath… Let me tell you a story.

 

St John 5: 1-9 

 

There was a man who was literally waiting for a change for years. Stuck in the same place, he looked to only the methods he saw around him. He was stuck in a cycle of disappointment. Always feeling passed over and left behind; he reduced his perception of his capacity to what others could do for him. One day someone came and challenged his view of his future, his capacity, his methods and the conditions he was waiting on to change his life. Six simple words that brought accountability and shifted his focus. 

” 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?” John 5:6 ESV

 

Sometimes change begins when we ask ourselves if our desires are in the right place. God hears our rants of frustration but beyond what we say he really wants to know: Do you really want a change? The truth is when we become desperate enough we abandon our excuses, we forget about our limitations and we decisively move in the direction of transformation.  The day we truly decide is the day we are ready to begin.

 

The Bible introduces the concept of repentance as the turning away from one way of life and embracing the life that God has intended for us. It is not tears, crying or just being sorry for the ramifications of our decisions; it is when we agree with God that the path we are on is just not what is best and look to Him for directions. My friend Jesus stood there knowing He was greater than all the things that disappointed this man, knowing He had all power to change the condition that was crippling. The beauty of the story is that Jesus impacted the real place the man was crippled… his mind.

 

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ” Romans 12:2 ESV