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READ: Luke 18:35 and 40-43 NLT
As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. When Jesus heard him, he stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too.
Jesus knows that he is heading to Jerusalem where he will be killed. But even so, amazingly, he has time for people and when he
hears a blind man call out he stops and gives him his full attention. From the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry he had declared that he had come to bring sight to the blind, in fulfilment of Isaiah 61. But that didn’t mean that he had come to impose his healing. He came to offer healing and that’s what he does when he meets this blind beggar in Jericho.
Jesus never barges into our lives telling us what’s best for us and imposing his will on us. He simply offers himself. On the face of it, it seems strange that Jesus would ask a blind man what he wanted him to do for him because it was so obvious. We know nothing of the circumstances of this man but we might well presume that his blindness was connected to his begging. He lived a life of complete vulnerability and so it was obvious that he needed to receive his sight. But even so Jesus respects him as an individual and lets him make the decision.
All of us need the loving touch of Jesus on our lives. We need his forgiveness, his peace, his love and his joy. We are all in desperate need of him, but even so he refuses to impose himself upon us. Today as Jesus knocks at the door of our lives he leaves it to us to make the decision whether we will open it or not.
QUESTION: Will you open the door to Jesus today?
PRAYER: Loving Lord Jesus, thank you that you offer me your life today. I welcome you and invite me to fill me with your Spirit. Amen.
Released on 23 Mar 2021
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