John
5:14-15 (NIV) 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." 15 The man went away and told
the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
NOTE: It is clear
from other statements of Jesus that not all suffering is the result of sin. But
in this case, Jesus explicitly references some past activity as the cause or
reason for the previous suffering. The man does not argue against Jesus in regards
to the matter. Also, Jesus warns the man that he must make a change in his life
(repentance from the sin), or something worse will happen to him. There are
some sins that have direct consequences to our body, like excessive alcohol and
other stronger drugs. There are activities, such as wild parties, that could
result in a person's loss of livelihood. And then there are things, somewhat
unrelated to the sinful activity, which God uses to get our attention.
Sometimes, God frees us from our mistakes and gives us a new start. But if we
fall back into the sin, there is always the danger of even greater suffering.
For the believer this would be called discipline. God tries to get our
attention. He starts with the gentle whisper, then he uses a friend or person
to call us to account, and then finally uses the two-by-four or brick wall to
get our attention. If we would listen when the gentle whisper speaks, we could
avoid a lot of pain in life.
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