They Wanted to See

As they were leaving Jericho, a huge crowd followed. Suddenly they came upon two blind men sitting alongside the road. When they heard it was Jesus passing, they cried out, "Master, have mercy on us! Mercy, Son of David!" The crowd tried to hush them up, but they got all the louder, crying, "Master, have mercy on us! Mercy, Son of David!"
Jesus stopped and called over, "What do you want from me?"
They said, "Master, we want our eyes opened. We want to see!"
Deeply moved, Jesus touched their eyes. They had their sight back that very instant, and joined the procession. ~Matthew 20:29 - 34 The Message

I read this piece of scripture last night, and started thinking about it. I like the fact that the blind men got even louder when the crowd tried to shush them. They were not embarassed of the fact that they wanted to talk to Jesus. I can take a lesson from these two men. There have been times that I am talking with someone and I want to say something about Jesus, but I know they will not want to hear it, so I shush up. I think that probably hurt Jesus' feelings. I need to have more faith at these times and say what I want to say, regardless if the other person/people want to hear about Jesus. I'm not saying that we should be obnoxious about our faith, but we certainly shouldn't be a mouse about it, either.

These verses also made me think about how Jesus responded to the men. He was on a mission, heard someone calling His name, knew that the two men needed His help, and stopped to help them. I do like to help people, but I'm afraid that I do it when it is more convenient for me. I have been guilty of avoiding people in the grocery store because I am in a hurry and don't think I have the time to talk to them right then and there. I am also guilty of telling people I will pray for them, and I do that day, but the next day I just give it a quick prayer while I am going about my own business. By the third day, I might not even think about it. How is that for helping someone? Not very good. The fact that Jesus stopped what he was doing and helped the two blind men spoke to me a lot last night. If I want to be more like Jesus, that is what I have to do. Stop what I am doing and concentrate on what others need more often. Stop what I am doing and pray for them, not pray while I am getting my own "to do" list completed. The men could see instantly, I think they could see physically and spiritually. By helping others when they need it, where they need it, I think this will help their eyes to be opened to Jesus, also.