What do you want?

[cavell]

Jesus said to him (Bartimaeus) "What do you want me to do for you?"
Mark 10:51

Isn't it interesting how our Lord puts His finger, with all the skill of a great physician, on the will. So often it would seem from a study of the New Testament, our Lord begins with men and women where He began with blind Bartimaeus, on the level of the will

You remember at Bethesda at the pool where our Lord was confronted, not with a blind man but with a man who could not walk. He addressed to that man a question which many a psychiatrist must in one way or another ask his patients today. "Do you want to get well?" We might say, "What an absurd question! If you have been paralysed for years, of course you want to get well." But there is no "of course" about it.

There are some people, - we have all met them - who enjoy bad health, because you see it makes them the centre of the picture; their illness is a manifestation of their selfishness. And if they were to be absolutely honest when the question was addressed to them, "Do you want to get well?" they would say "No I dont."

That is why our Lord said to the man at Bethesda, "Do you want to get well? because unless you do, I cannot begin a cure." And that was how He approached Bartimaeus, "What do you want me to do for you?"

In St Paul's Cathedral London there hangs that moving Holman Hunt's picture, of Christ standing at the door with no handle on the outside. Nothing but briers and thorns. And the patient Christ waits, "God ask's our leave to bless us" said Augustine.
And unless there is an outgoing of my will towards the great physician, there will be no forcing of Himself on me to heal me, and I shall remain unblessed.

God ask's our leave "What do you want"

 

[Maid Marie]

I remember as a kid hearing a sermon saying basically what you've written here. I thought it was strange that Jesus would ask first before healing. But as an adult I have encountered many around me that really do seem to be more happy in their misery than they could be healed. NOT ME! I am praying for full healing and have done all that God calls me to do in order to be healed.

 

[halfalive]

I've had moments like that. I have a long history of depression, and as much as I hated it, it eventually became comfortable. It almost felt like part of my identity at that point. Some days that pain was less scary to me than the thought of living without it, because I wasn't sure who I'd be then.

Granted, it's still a work in progress. I'm very slowly learning how to let go of things -- one step, one day at a time.

 

[VolRaider]

Jesus said to him (Bartimaeus) "What do you want me to do for you?"
Mark 10:51

Isn't it interesting how our Lord puts His finger, with all the skill of a great physician, on the will. So often it would seem from a study of the New Testament, our Lord begins with men and women where He began with blind Bartimaeus, on the level of the will

You remember at Bethesda at the pool where our Lord was confronted, not with a blind man but with a man who could not walk. He addressed to that man a question which many a psychiatrist must in one way or another ask his patients today. "Do you want to get well?" We might say, "What an absurd question! If you have been paralysed for years, of course you want to get well." But there is no "of course" about it.

There are some people, - we have all met them - who enjoy bad health, because you see it makes them the centre of the picture; their illness is a manifestation of their selfishness. And if they were to be absolutely honest when the question was addressed to them, "Do you want to get well?" they would say "No I dont."

That is why our Lord said to the man at Bethesda, "Do you want to get well? because unless you do, I cannot begin a cure." And that was how He approached Bartimaeus, "What do you want me to do for you?"

In St Paul's Cathedral London there hangs that moving Holman Hunt's picture, of Christ standing at the door with no handle on the outside. Nothing but briers and thorns. And the patient Christ waits, "God ask's our leave to bless us" said Augustine.
And unless there is an outgoing of my will towards the great physician, there will be no forcing of Himself on me to heal me, and I shall remain unblessed.

God ask's our leave "What do you want"

Wow.... funny you should write that. I am struggling with something (mentally, not physically) and will keep what you wrote in mind all day - and afterwards!
Have a wonderful day, Cavell, and thanks for the post!

 

[Maid Marie]

I've had moments like that. I have a long history of depression, and as much as I hated it, it eventually became comfortable. It almost felt like part of my identity at that point. Some days that pain was less scary to me than the thought of living without it, because I wasn't sure who I'd be then.

Granted, it's still a work in progress. I'm very slowly learning how to let go of things -- one step, one day at a time.

I had to go through that, too. The body doesn't like change.

So as I am losing weight, and am happy, I have to fight this innate, yet strange, desire to fight the urge to eat more so that I can stay the same size.

 

[jacks]

God asks our leave "What do you want"

Maybe the best answers is "Your will Lord". Often we don't know what is best for us, our perspective is very short term.

 

[JCFantasy23]

Interesting points in this devotional. I hadn't really thought of it this way before.