Wednesday 3 October 2007

Wednesday Reading: Mark 10:46-52
 
Key Verse: Mark 10:52
52  And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
 
Devotion:
Do people say that you are stubborn, or the opposite? Do people say that you stick at things or give up after a short while? One thing we have to learn about being a Christian, is sticking around, doing the same thing over and over again until we have done enough! How do we know when we have done enough – take a leaf out of Bartimeus' book...
 
Bartimeus was sitting by the side of the highway begging, just like he had probably done for some time, day after day. When he heard that Jesus was coming by, he called out to Jesus to have mercy on him. When he started doing that, people all around him started telling him to shut up. They were probably thinking that they would save Jesus the embarrassment of having to deal with a blind beggar! But after being told to keep quiet, he called out even more. He knew who Jesus was and begged that his eyes could be opened so that he could see again.
 
God has given each of us the ability to be able to earn our keep with all that he has given us including our sight. Bartimeus wanted to get back to doing something instead of being forced to sit around begging. He knew that Christ could heal him and he had faith that He would do exactly that. But he had the wherewithal to stick at his shouting even when everyone around him was against him! He even made a point at shouting even more!
 
Christ's words “your faith has healed you” showed all of us that as long as we are willing to continue with our faith, even in the sight of adversity, God is willing to continue doing extraordinary things for us. We have to be willing to continue in our faith, always!
 
Points to Ponder:
How long do you stick at something?
 
How long do you stick with your prayers?