What Do You Want Me To Do For You? Pt. 2 — Morning Devotions

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What Do You Want Me To Do For You? Pt. 1 — Morning Devotions

Do you know there are many people who have eyesight and yet are very bitter and angry in some sort of state of despair. Many people who see and can’t or choose not to see. But Jesus did more than restore the sight of that man. He placed before that man a choice, you know, what do you want to become now that I’ve healed you? And I think as I’m thinking about this, that we all sit on the side of the road just like Bartemius did. We all have some form of darkness or impairment and there is in the life of each of us something that causes us to draw back from what God would have us to become.

What can God do for us?

You know, there are things that happen. We may be blind in one area of our life. We may not want to change. We want to stay with what’s familiar, or we may say, look, I just don’t have the courage to get up and try something new. So it’s human limitations, isn’t it? But God sees us as being capable of much more. He sees us being capable of being whole, and I think that’s a great story.

So here was Bartemius, asking for the mercy from the Son of David, meaning Jesus. And the crowd, of course, was not particularly impressed with him, but he kept hollering at the top of his lungs, and there he was. He couldn’t see, but he knew Jesus was there. And I think it’s fascinating that Jesus didn’t give him a lecture, he just asked the question, What do you want me to do for you? That must be obvious. I mean, surely you want to see.

So Jesus is asking a question. Well, have you had those moments in your life when things are not really going well and circumstances are beyond what you had hoped, and you feel, well, look, I’m blind. I’m out of control here. There’s no one to turn to. And then we hear about Jesus. Perhaps we’d gone to church as a younger person or Sunday school, and we turn to Jesus and ask for the obvious things. Well, of course Jesus knows what we want. He knows that we are asking those questions, but it’s much easier to ask for the obvious things, isn’t it, than the difficult ones.

Well, and Jesus comes to us and he says today, well, what do you want me to do for you?

And I don’t believe that day that Bartemius responded straight away. I think he probably had to stop and think about that question. He realised the authority of Jesus’ question that day was getting right to the core of his own heart, and that Jesus was really giving him a question to think about. Bartemius didn’t ask, as I said yesterday, for a better place to beg from. He doesn’t ask that the people around him would give him more money or have more compassion.

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But we see here that he asks for something that really is there. He says, you are Jesus, the Son of God, and you are the only one that can grant me this miracle. That’s really what he was saying. I believe you, and I believe you will do it, that you will heal me. Now I think it’s a tremendous story because I guess we can all realise how often we assume, oh look, Jesus wouldn’t be bothered with me, you know, and that I’ve got my life. And also there are people, blind people, not necessarily physically blind, but there are people all around me who have needs, and we might just lack that courage to call out to Jesus just as Bartemius did on that day.

But of course he had to make a decision, didn’t he? He had to respond, and there’s that faith, the mixture actually of faith and opportunity that Bartemius had. He either had to respond or not. Well, Bartemius says that Jesus is here, and so it is. He cries out to him, asking for for help. So I wonder today if you’ve ever felt like Bartemius that you’ve come to the end of the road. Well, why don’t you ask Jesus to come near you.

And he could well ask you that question. Alright, but what do you want me to do for you? And let’s be ready to respond in whatever way we can.

Let’s Pray

Well, Lord, we know today your presence goes with us. You are before me. You are behind me. Your right hand guides me, and your right hand holds me fast. Thank you for your protection, and I’m grateful in the name of Jesus. Amen.