Ps 145:4-7    One generation will commend Your works to another; they will tell of Your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and I will meditate on
Your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of Your awesome works, and I will proclaim Your great deeds. They will celebrate Your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of Your righteousness.  
One of the responsibilities of the Jewish parents was to teach the next generation of God's ways and His acts. The Jewish boys would spend years learning the laws and the prophets. They would learn the man made laws as well. The girls would learn of God's bounty and blessings from their mothers as they worked in the house learning cooking and how to keep a household running.
    
Mary, Jesus's mother, knew the Lord's words and laws well.  She knew the cost of doing God's bidding because she learned from her parents. She was not too busy with other things to teach our Savior the basics of His Heavenly
Father.
   
Many of us have abdicated the work of bringing the next generation into God's kingdom. We don't read the Word together or teach our children the Bible stories as our
parents did when we were young. We don't live according to the precepts we knew as part of our basic belief system. We send our young ones to Sunday School, if our church still has
one, and hope someone else will teach them.
    
Most of today's youth have little or no understanding of God's word or have any interest in learning. The next generation have already left the church for other belief systems that are more culturally acceptable.
    
When we stand before the King of Kings, we will have to answer Him when He asks where our children are. We will not be allowed to let others answer for us.
     
It is not too late to start witnessing to our next generation regardless of their age.  As long as we and they have breath, we are still able to give the gospel to them. What they choose to do with the information is up to them, but we must try.

John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
Read John 5:1-15
When we read this account, it seems that the Lord knew a lot more information than is shared here. The man does not answer the question that Jesus asks.  Instead, he gives reasons why he has not been healed.  There was no one to assist him into the pool. Others are faster at getting into the pool.
    
The nature of his being an invalid is not disclosed.  We can be made an invalid by lack of ambition or lack of desire or fear of failing. Jesus goes right to the heart of the issue. We are sometimes reluctant to accept responsibility for our own problems. We don't always know how to change our situation or even want to. It may be that the man was so used to his situation that it was easier to stay where he was than to exert the effort to make changes.
    
Jesus later tells the man to stop sinning or worse things  could happen. The first thing the man did when he as healed was to pick up his mat and walk. He, possibly for the first time in many years, did something for himself and did not rely on others for his care or his own needs. It can be very difficult to start over after choosing to change a way of life. Being responsible for self care after depending on others can be frightening. Jesus has promised to never leave us or forsake us if we follow His commands. He is asking us to take up our mat and walk. Step out in faith.
   
Know that our first steps in a new way of life will be easier
as we lean on the everlasting arm. The things that have held
us back, whether a bad habit or fear, can be handed to the
Lord to deal with. It may be the most courageous thing you
have ever done but Jesus will walk that path with you.

The old man walked down the street with a cane to steady his shaky steps and a prayer to steady his aching, lonely heart. His progress was slow as he made his way up the steps to the church door. Opening it took a lot of effort and the young people entering before him let the door close in his face.
    
His entrance into the narthex drew a lot of stares, no welcoming greetings, just whispers and stares.  He began to make his way to the open doors of the sanctuary when he was approached by the usher. The man's expression was polite but with a shade of dismay. Being careful not to, in
anyway, touch the old man, the usher gently began to guide him back toward the narthex and the way back to the street.
     
"We have a strict dress code here, sir, and I am afraid you don't qualify to enter into the Lord's house. If you would like to attend, please make an effort to be more appropriately
attired. We must be careful whom we allow to be associated with us."
   
The old man, with tears rolling down his cheeks, made his way down the steps once more.  His pockets were empty. His family gone or living far away, his wife now with the Lord and no one to care about him or his needs, he saw no reason to 
continue on. Even the prayers he whispers seem to go no further than his lips. With no particular destination in mind, he settled on the bench at the bus stop.
   
A young man, with eyes saddened by the world he saw around him, sat down beside the broken old man. Silence quietly rested between them. The young man's spirit seemed to offer comfort to the old man.
   
"They wouldn't let you in?"

The old man simply hung his head.

"Don't worry, they wouldn't let me in either."

The old man looked up into the eyes of Jesus.

His eyes widened, his heart jumped, great joy took root in his soul and flooded his lonely spirit.
  
 "They are so focused on the outer appearance, they have forgotten why they are here."
   
1Samuel 16:7b "The Lord does not look at the things
man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but
God looks at the heart."
   
When the Lord looks at a church, He doesn't see the building. He is looking at the church body and how they represent Him to the world around them. Jesus went to those who needed a savior and a healer, not the wealthy or powerful. 
  
 Jesus wants us to present Him to the world with compassion and grace and mercy. The weary old men, the lonely widows, the lost and rejected, the children in need are the ones we are to open our doors and hearts for. Sometimes the doors are difficult to open but He is standing at the door waiting for us to open it. He is hurting for those who hurt but also for those whose poor choices hold the doors shut.
   
Will you be the one to help open the door? Can we all be the ones to be Jesus to the world? He had us in mind when He promised us jewels in our crowns. He knows our needs, strengths and weaknesses. He uses us because we rely on Him and not ourselves.