Spike has a huge dilemma: if he wears his glasses, Cole will make Spike’s life miserable, but if he doesn’t wear his glasses, Spike will strike out in the big baseball game.
Before You ListenTheme: Nothing should stop me from serving Jesus.
1. Bartimaeus is the blind man in Mark 10:51-52. When Jesus asked, Bartimaeus knew right away what he wanted. If Jesus came to you and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” what would you ask him to do?
2. In Mark 10:46-52 Bartimaeus knew that he needed help. He was blind and he knew that Jesus was the one who could help him. Many people were embarrassed by the blind man yelling loudly for Jesus. They may have thought that you don’t yell for Jesus. That’s not the way to talk to a respected teacher. But Jesus answered Bartimaeus’ call. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. Bartimaeus got straight to the point. No fancy talk. No questions to Jesus. No showing off to the crowd. “Rabbi, I want to see,” he said. Think about how you would ask Jesus to help you as you listen to today’s program.
“‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’
‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road”
In this episode, Spike is afraid of how people might react to his new glasses. He has to decide what is more important to him: sight or possible embarrassment.
Do you think that Jesus already knew that Bartimaeus was blind? Of course he did! Jesus knows exactly what you need all of the time. But sometimes the missing link is that YOU do not know what you need. Sometimes, Jesus waits for us to figure out what we are missing in our lives. Like Spike, we may be letting other people’s opinions keep us from what is really important. Whenever we tell Jesus that we want to see him better, to know him better, his answer is always, “Yes!” Maybe you need a vision correction today. Talk to Jesus; he loves to restore our sight!
Want to dig deeper and learn more about asking Jesus for things? Check out Matthew 7:7-11, Philippians 4:6-7, and Romans 8:38-39.
Try a simple task with a blindfold on. Brushing your teeth? Drawing a house? Tying your shoe? Making your bed? No peeking!
Not being able to see makes even simple activities more difficult. Imagine how hard life was for Bartimaeus! As a blind man, he could do nothing but sit outside and beg. You can see why he would have done anything to get Jesus’ attention. What is making your life difficult now? Ask Jesus to help you see.