What Do You Want Me To Do For You?

April 17, 2018

What Do You Want Me To Do For You?

“And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.”

Mark 10:52

Blind Bartimaeus is an example of someone coming boldly to the God’s throne of grace. (Mark 10:46-52) The blind beggar was sitting beside the road when he heard that Jesus was nearby. He began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and went to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “My rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.”

Blind Bartimaeus believed Jesus was the Messiah, that’s why he called out to Jesus as “Son of David.” Bartimaeus answered Jesus using the title “My rabbi” and made his relationship to Jesus personal as he rushed to the throne of grace. He knew Jesus could heal his condition, and Jesus affirmed his faith. 

In Bartimaeus’ culture, a blind beggar was almost totally ignored by society. His coat was his total possession and was all the protection he had from the elements. Bartimaeus “threw aside his coat” when he ran to Jesus. He left his only security behind as he ran to the throne of grace. The closest I have ever come to walking where Bartimaeus walked is when I was rolled into the operating room for cardiac bypass surgery following my heart attack. I was helpless. All I had was faith that God would use this procedure to save my life. My only prayer was to take a line from Psalm 23: “Thou art with me.” (Psalm 23:4 KJV)

Other than that experience, I have always had several options in life. When I travel, I have a cell phone and AAA. If the electricity is out, I have a back-up generator. I have family, friends and neighbors I can call. I have plenty of security blankets. I am blessed. I don’t believe God is calling me to throw aside all my security in this world. He is, however, calling me to cast aside anything I am tempted to use to validate my worth and my value as a human being. He is calling me to trust in the sufficiency of His grace, and only His grace to validate my life.

As long as I cling to things such as wealth, fame, possessions, the opinions of other people, power and influence to validate my humanity, I am in reality a blind beggar. When, like Bartimaeus, I call out to my Jesus and throw my security blankets aside, I can instantly see my way to follow Jesus.

My Takeaway: Bartimaeus’ story begs two questions: what security blanket do you need to drop in order to hear Jesus say, “What do you want me to do for you?”  And, if you hear his question, how do you respond to Jesus?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.