Pick Up Your Mat and Walk: Get Unstuck

Jul 27, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: The Stake We Outgrow but Still Obey

A baby elephant learns helplessness when tied to a flimsy stake, carrying that mental chain into adulthood. Many Christians remain bound by old limitations long after Christ’s power has made them capable of breaking free. The real obstacle isn’t the circumstance itself but the ingrained belief that change is impossible. Freedom begins by questioning what invisible “stakes” we still obey despite having strength we’ve never tested. Lasting change requires both recognizing false limitations and acting against them. [35:04]

“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
(Proverbs 28:13, NIV)

Reflection: What “stake” have you unconsciously obeyed for years, assuming it still holds power over you? How might testing that assumption reveal Christ’s strength in you?

Day 2: “I Have No One”: Blaming Absences for Our Stuckness

The paralyzed man fixated on his lack of helpers rather than the Helper standing before him. When Jesus asked about desire, the man deflected with an excuse about absent people. Stuckness often thrives in the gap between what we think we need and what Christ actually offers. Blaming others’ absence keeps us passive; receiving Christ’s presence demands responsibility. Healing starts when we stop rehearsing lacks and start responding to the One who fills them. [40:08]

“I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
(John 5:7, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you blamed unavailable people or resources for your stagnation? How might Christ’s direct presence today redefine what you actually need?

Day 3: Stand, Roll, Walk: Obedience Before Understanding

Jesus didn’t debate the man’s excuses—He issued three commands. The miracle unfolded through practical obedience: standing on atrophied legs, rolling a mat, taking first steps. Faith isn’t passive agreement but embodied trust. Often God’s power flows through simple acts of cooperation, not grand gestures. What feels impossible alone becomes possible through Christ-empowered movement. Miracles begin where explanations end. [37:14]

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”
(John 5:8-9, NIV)

Reflection: What specific “next step” have you avoided because it feels disconnected from your bigger healing? How might obeying Christ in the small thing unlock the larger miracle?

Day 4: New Life Demands Leaving Old Mats Behind

After healing, Jesus warned the man to abandon sin—not just his mat. The mat symbolized 38 years of identity; leaving it meant embracing a new story. Christ’s freedom isn’t a temporary fix but an invitation to walk differently. Clinging to old comforts (even healed ones) risks re-paralysis. True healing requires releasing what once defined us to grasp what now refines us. [52:05]

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
(2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)

Reflection: What “mat” (habit, label, or coping mechanism) do you still clutch despite being healed? How does holding it limit your capacity to live as Christ’s new creation?

Day 5: The Pool Isn’t the Answer; The Healer Is

For 38 years, the man believed healing lived in troubled waters. Jesus revealed healing lived in the Word. We often misplace hope in methods (therapy, success, relationships) rather than the Method-Maker. Christ doesn’t just provide solutions—He is the solution. Freedom comes not by reaching our version of the pool but by receiving the Presence that makes all pools obsolete. [53:50]

“The man replied, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Pick up your mat and walk.”’ They asked him, ‘Who is this man who told you to pick it up and walk?’”
(John 5:11-12, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you sought healing in a “pool” (method, system, achievement) instead of the Healer? How might shifting your focus to Christ Himself redefine your path forward?

Sermon Summary

The theme of being stuck gathers up the past, sin, fear, and doubt, and then presses the deeper question: what is keeping a person there? Paul’s word in Philippians says the past cannot be allowed to hold the future hostage, because straining forward means forgetting what lies behind. The writer of Hebrews says sin is not the only thing to lay aside, because weights and entanglements can keep a runner from running the race. Israel’s fear at the edge of the promised land shows how unbelief can freeze a people right at the door of what God promised. Thomas’s doubt shows how disappointment can create a moment of unbelief, but Christ can meet that moment and remove it.

The elephant tied to the little stake gives the picture of a strong creature still acting like a weak baby elephant. The chain is not really holding him anymore, but his mind still believes he is stuck. John 5 brings that picture to life in the man at Bethesda, sick for thirty eight years and lying beside a pool he thought was his answer. Jesus sees him, knows how long he has been there, and asks the life changing question: “Do you even want to be healed?”

The man answers with what he does not have: “I have no one.” The pool had become his diagnosis, but Jesus was his greatest need. The excuse may explain where he has been, but it will never take him where God wants him to go. Proverbs says hidden sin will not prosper, because what stays concealed stays powerful. The stuck life has to be identified before it can be left behind.

Jesus does not argue with the man’s excuses. Jesus says, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk.” Faith is not just believing Jesus can help; faith acts on what Jesus says. The miracle begins as the man responds to the voice of Christ. Obedience becomes the place where stuckness loses its grip.

Jesus later finds the man in the temple and says, “Now you are well. So stop sinning.” The healing was not just about walking. Jesus wanted transformation, not just restoration. The new life cannot drag the old identity with it. The answer was never the water, success, a perfect spouse, addiction, religion, or self reliance. The answer was standing right beside him. Jesus still calls stuck people to get up, leave the old life behind, and walk in the freedom only he can give.

Key Takeaways

1. Jesus asks the honest question [38:29] The question, “Do you even want to be healed?” cuts deeper than the condition on the outside. The stuck place can become familiar enough that freedom feels threatening, because healing brings responsibility, movement, and change. Christ does not ask the question because he lacks power, but because the heart must face whether it actually wants the life he gives. [38:29]
2. Excuses keep eyes on limits [46:50] The man’s “I can’t” kept his attention on what he lacked and who had failed to help him. Excuses may describe real pain, but they cannot become the home where a soul settles down. Faith shifts the gaze from what cannot be done to what Christ can do through obedience. [46:50]
3. Faith gets up when Jesus speaks [47:30] Jesus gave three plain commands: get up, take up, and walk. The man had to respond before the life ahead of him could begin. Faith is not passive agreement with religious truth; faith trusts the voice of Jesus enough to move when the mat still feels like the only known place. [47:30]
4. Freedom leaves old chains behind [51:26] Christ does not break chains so a person can carry them into a new life. The old identity can feel comfortable because it has been worn for so long, but new creation means the old has died and the new has come alive. Freedom requires refusing to tie oneself back to what Christ already broke. [51:26]
5. Jesus, not the pool, heals [53:50] The man spent thirty eight years looking at the water while the real answer stood beside him. Success, romance, addiction, religion, and self reliance can all become pools that promise wholeness but cannot give it. Only Jesus can make a person truly whole, because only Jesus can heal the body, the heart, and the life beneath the surface.

## [53:50]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[31:16] - Recapping the Stuck Series
[34:33] - What Is Keeping You Stuck?
[35:04] - The Elephant and the Little Stake
[36:10] - The Man at Bethesda
[37:44] - Do You Want to Be Healed?
[39:37] - Recognize the Real Problem
[43:30] - Stop Hiding Behind Excuses
[47:30] - Get Up, Take Up, Walk
[49:25] - Walk in the New Life
[53:50] - The Answer Was Not the Water
[55:56] - Jesus Calls Stuck People Forward
[58:03] - Responding to Jesus Today

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

John 5:1-9
“After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 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?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk.’ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.” [36:18] [36:45] [36:57]

Philippians 3:13-14
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” [31:30]

Hebrews 12:1
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” [32:14]

Proverbs 28:13
“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” [42:27]

Observation questions

In John 5, what does the man say when Jesus asks if he wants to be healed, and what does that response reveal about where his attention is focused? [39:37]
What three commands does Jesus give the man in John 5:8, and what does the man do immediately afterward? [47:30]
According to Hebrews 12:1, what two things are believers told to lay aside before running the race with endurance?
In John 5 and later in the passage, where does Jesus find the man after healing him, and what warning does Jesus give him there? [49:25]

Interpretation questions

Jesus asks, “Do you want to be healed?” Why might someone live so long in a stuck place that freedom begins to feel uncomfortable or costly? [38:29]
The man answers Jesus by saying, “I have no one.” How can a real hardship become an excuse that keeps a person from responding to Christ? [46:50]
Proverbs 28:13 says concealed sin will not prosper. Why does hidden sin or hidden struggle often keep its power over a person until it is confessed and brought into the light? [42:27]
Jesus tells the healed man, “Now you are well. So stop sinning.” What does that show about the difference between being restored outwardly and being transformed inwardly? [50:31]

Application questions

What has felt like the little stake in the ground lately—something that may no longer have the same power over you, but you still live as if you are tied to it? [35:04]
Jesus asks an honest question: “Do you want to be healed?” If that question were asked personally today, what part of life would it touch most deeply right now? [56:34]
Excuses often sound like “I can’t,” “I’m too old,” “I’m too young,” “that’s just how I was raised,” or “no one will help me.” Which kind of excuse shows up most often in your life when God is calling you forward? [46:50]
Faith acts on the voice of Jesus. What would “get up, take up, and walk” look like in one practical area of life this week? [47:30]
Jesus does not free people so they can carry the old chains into the new life. What old identity, habit, or pattern are you most tempted to drag into the life Christ is giving you? [51:26]
The answer was not the pool; the answer was Jesus standing right there. What “pool” are you most tempted to look to for healing or wholeness—success, approval, a relationship, addiction, religion, or self-reliance? [53:50]
Philippians says to forget what lies behind and strain forward. What is one step of obedience that would help you stop letting the past hold your future hostage? [31:30]

Sermon Clips

37s

#LeaveOldLifeBehind

“Maybe you've been stuck for a long time. Maybe you're not stuck at all and and you figured this all out. That's good. But Jesus is still calling people to get up, leave their old life behind, and walk in a new life that he all has to offer. So, our past may explain why we're lying here today but it doesn't have to determine where we where whether you were stay there. Jesus is still calling stuck people to get up and walk.”

43s

#NewCreationNotOldChains

“``But the hard part is trying to throw that chain back onto some of those old things and and it tie myself right back down to that old life. So, today, if you're not a Christian, I would ask that right now, you start praying about this decision to make because if you are in Christ, you become a new creation. So for thirty eight years, this man believed his answer was in that pool. The answer wasn't in the water. The answer was standing beside him and some people today are still looking for healing in all the wrong places”

38s

#FaithOverExcuses

“Again, I could use the excuse. I was raised this way to be the way that I am. It's just who I am. We'll also say, well, I'm just too young and then we'll say, I'm just too old. Well, I'm not smart enough. I don't have enough money. So, we come up with all kinds of excuses but Jesus is looking for people willing to trust him to despite the obstacles. Ex excuses keep us focused on what you can't do. Faith keeps us focused on what Christ can do.”

65s

#ObedienceUnlocksMiracles

“Again, this is the guy didn't even say he wanted to be healed. But Jesus still tells him. And the man had to respond to the man. He could've laid there on the ground. So I don't wanna get up. But he gets up. I bet he's a little curious. I wonder if this guy actually knows what he's talking about. So actually he stand up. Could you imagine him standing up after thirty eight years of being on a mat? Now, he's just standing there. And then he says, pick the roll up your mat. So now he has to roll up his mat and then he tells him to walk. So the man had to respond to this miracle and faith is more than believing Jesus can help. Faith acts on what Jesus says. Sometimes, we're waiting for god to move when god is just waiting for us to obey. Sometimes, a miracle often begins on the other side of obedience.”

70s

#TransformationNotRestoration

“I think Jesus was referring to a specific sin that this man had in his life. Jesus words suggest there was a particular sin that the man needed to leave behind. Notice if we look at it, Jesus heals him. Later, Jesus finds him in the temple then Jesus says, sin no more. So, I don't think this necessarily means that his original disability was caused by that sin but it does indicate Jesus was concerned about his spiritual condition after the healing. Jesus was not done with him. He was not finished with him. He still, he got him walking. He got him healed but he still needed to show up and say, stop sinning. He wanted transformation not just restoration. The miracle here was never just about walking. It was about living differently. Jesus doesn't free us so that we can return back to that life that kept us stuck. He frees us so that we can follow him.”

53s

#EyesOnJesus

“Here's the one that I have to fight is self reliance. I can do this on my own. I can take care of this. I'm strong. I, you know, I can I'll just work my way out of this. Yeah. I'm feeling down, but I'll just work while I myself out. I'll I'll I'll just you know what? I'll just drink lots of water, eat my fruits and vegetables, go to the gym five days a week, and I'm gonna be okay. Only Jesus could make a person truly whole. The man was looking for the water to heal him when Jesus is the only one that can heal him. So, what are you looking at today that you think is going to heal you and you need to take your eyes off of that and put your eyes onto Jesus.”

31s

#DoYouWantToBeUnstuck

“And I asked this question today, if you're stuck, do you even want to get unstuck? I think it's a very valid question. Do you even wanna get unstuck? Do you even want to be healed? Because the greatest obstacle to moving forward isn't often not our circumstances but our willingness to trust and obey Jesus. For thirty eight years, think about this. For thirty eight years, this guy has has had disappointment in his life for thirty eight years.”

65s

#ExcusesDontTakeYouPlaces

“Jesus asked a simple question and Jesus got excuse Notice that he, notice here though, the man never actually answers Jesus' question. The guy never says, absolutely, I want to be healed. Like, wouldn't that be what what you would like if Jesus says you want to be healed? Wouldn't you say, absolutely, I want to be healed. Wouldn't that be the first thing that came to mind? Absolutely. Without a doubt. And I think that's why Jesus asked this guy because that wasn't his response. His his response was, I can't. So, he never actually answers Jesus' question. So, these excuses that we have may explain where we've been but they're never going to take you where god wants to take you. God wants to take you into some pretty awesome places.”

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