What DO you want?

“What do you want me to do for you?”               Mark 10: 51

Jesus asks this question of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar in Jericho. This sentence is striking because it notes a radical shift in the perception people had of God. The early Greeks, Egyptians, and other cultures of the time all paid strict obeisance to the gods they worshiped; they made sacrifices, they put up totems, built altars, and strived to please their gods lest they incur the wrath of the gods.

What a radical departure from the norm Jesus offers! Our God, the Incarnate One, who, instead of being a threatening abstraction, is right in front of our faces asking us, “What do you want me to do for you?” This is the God we worship. The Divine Presence who yearns for relationship with us, who loves us, who sacrificed His only begotten Son so that we might have eternal life.

 God wants into your life! 

As you consider how passionate God is for you and for me and for all of creation, try to identify some times where God has begged you for your attention. Some instances where God was trying to tell you something, yearning for you to notice. Did you notice? How did you respond?

 Now, close your eyes, and imagine that God is right in front of you, and God whispers into your ear,
“What do you want me to do for you?”

 How will you answer?

The Scripture:                                                                                                        Mark 10:46-52

Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you." So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see again." Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.