38 years.

14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. (John 5)

For 38 years he was invalid. For 38 years he longed to be made well. For 38 years he held the hope that he might one day be healed. 38 years is a long time, and finally, after all his yearning and longing, Jesus came to him and changed his life instantly; he was whole and he could walk again.

The amazing part is that Jesus was able to find him again; this time at the temple. I wonder what he was doing there. I wonder whether or not he had faithfully been going to the temple and this was just one of his routine trips or maybe he never had the luxury or ability to go to the temple because of his handicap; so, being now able to walk, he immediately goes to the temple to show his praise and thanksgiving. Either way, this implies that he was a man of faith.

Interestingly, despite his faith, he was still a sinner. Therefore, Jesus tells him to stop sinning. We can learn a lot from this man. The first thing is to never stop praying and hoping for something. It might take 38 years, but God is faithful to answer our prayers. Secondly, we need to show our thanks whenever we can. Lastly, we need to remove the sin from our lives lest something bad should happen.