Desire

Desire (by guest writer David Peterson)

Jesus went up to Jerusalem and as He entered through the sheep gate he walked near the Bethesda pools. There He saw a man who had been ill for 38 years who had awaited healing. John 5:6-9 records their interaction this way: Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, said to him, “Do you want to get well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was a Sabbath on that day. Jesus healed this man completely but not for lack of this sick man’s desire. Desperate as he was, he still needed Jesus to heal him.

John Bunyan wrote in 1769 that “Christ is the Desire Of Nations, the Joy Of Angels, the Delight Of The Father. What solace then must that soul be filled with, that has the possession of Him to all eternity!” Bunyan refers to Haggai 2:7 that calls Christ the desire of the nations because He is a Savior, the Messiah, and the Lord Almighty. In other words Jesus is the answer for all desires.

Charles Wesley wrote a hymn that addresses Haggai 2:7 that is titled “Come, Desire of Nations, Come” The first stanza follows:

Come, Desire of nations, come!

Hasten, Lord, the general doom!

With thy holy train descend;

Then our earthly trials end.

Wesley states in the last verse exactly what the sick man experienced through Jesus.

Let us pray: Healing Jesus, today we pray that our desire to be healed, comforted, recovered, and strengthened be fulfilled by your loving work upon us. Amen.