Get Up and Make Your Bed

Now as Peter went here and there among all the believers, he came down also to the saints living in Lydda. ³³There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years, for he was paralyzed. ³⁴Peter said to him, ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed!’ And immediately he got up. ³⁵And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. Acts 9:32-35

get up and make your bed
for eight years
for eight years he was paralyzed
for eight years he had to rely on others
for eight years he needed the help of those around him
for eight years simple things we take for granted were difficult
for eight years life presented obstacles
for eight years

get up and make your bed
can you imagine what went through his mind
do you not understand what it means to be paralyzed
getting up requires help
making the bed requires someone who can move around
what part of being paralyzed do you not understand

Peter went here and there
Peter was wandering through the believers
he chanced upon Aeneas
Peter believed that Jesus could heal
Peter believed that by invoking the name of Jesus, a paralyzed man could get up

get up and make your bed
I wish faith worked like it does in Acts
I wish I could walk into the hospital room
say Jesus Christ heals you
I wish that than they could get up and make their beds
I pray for the healing love of Jesus to pour out on those I encounter
I pray for God's will to be done
I pray for the doctors, nurses, aids, techs, caregivers to be God's hands, heart, and healing energy

get up and make your bed
I want to invoke the name of Jesus
me, a person who rarely ends a prayer in Jesus Name
me, I want to invoke the name of Jesus
I want us to get up and make our beds
I want us to not be complacent, complicit
I want us to push back against a system that leaves people struggling to find and receive care
I want us to push back against a budget that would cut
 The National Institute of Health  86.5 billion
  research and training by 5.1 billion
  clinical training by 4.5 billion
  consumer and occupational health and safety by 16.5 billion
  food and rug administration by 12.6 billion
  food and safety inspection my 1.8 billion
  occupational and mine safety and health by 1.8 billion
  consumer product safety by 253 million
  medicare by 68.2 billion
  grants to states for medicaid 627 billion
...
I want us to get up and make our beds
we need to speak up and fight back
we need to call, protest, sit down, stand up, march
we need to say Jesus Christ heals you
we need to get up and make our beds
so no one is left bereft, no one is left without help
we need to get up and make our beds
so no one is paralyzed who could be made well
we need to say if you claim Christ then you need to follow him
you need to heal and providing healing they way Jesus dis
we need to remind them to get up and make their beds