For most of this year, I've felt the Lord tugging my heart in His direction. A few months ago, I actually felt like He was leading me to read His Word.... and nothing but His Word... for the next year.
"Great idea!" I thought.
That was until this great new book series came out that I had to read because everyone else was reading it. Good books? Yes. Really enjoyed them. Did they do anything for my spiritual life? Not at all. Well... not exactly true. It had a negative effect. It took my eyes and my time away from God and the goal He had set before me. It was a distraction.
I'm finally beginning to get my focus back where it should be. I recently began a Bible study called "Desperate: Seeking Simplicity... Finding the Cross" by Cindi Wood. And I am loving it!
Yesterday and today I have been so blessed! Let me tell you what I've learned...
In Luke 18:35-43, we see the story of the blind beggar who receives his sight. It reads like this:
"(35)As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. (36)When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. (37)They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."
(38)He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
(39)Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
(40)Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, (41)"What do you want me to do for you?"
"Lord, I want to see," he replied.
(42)Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." (43)Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God."
Here is a man who was blind and sat at the city gates. I'm sure he was used to begging others for help and possibly, like we see today, he was looked upon as a burden. He can't see anyone. But I'm pretty sure he could feel the attitudes of those he sought help from. He could hear it in their voices. It must have been very difficult to ask those same people for help every day. Though he couldn't see the people physically, they were most likely his main focus. After all... he needed them to survive.
BUT... at the very moment Jesus passed by... his focus changed. He saw Jesus! He called out to Him "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Suddenly, he was blind to all those familiar people, the ones he had been begging for food or money. As they called out to him to be quiet, his focus was no longer on them, and he shouted all the more. "Son of David, have mercy on me!" He'd begged at the gates countless times only to find his need unfulfilled. But now he saw Jesus! The only One who could really supply all his needs and bring true healing! And he was desperate.
That's how I feel in my own life. Desperate. Desperate for Jesus. "Lord, I want to see!" I don't want my focus to be on everything that makes up life. Jesus is the giver of life. I don't want to seek answers... I want to seek God! The Bible says to "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)
Life is so full. I could go on to say it's full of this, that, and the other thing, but I think it's suffice to say "Life is full." We all have our own lists and they are filled with equally important things. Good things, bad things, busy things. The point is... don't let the 'things' take your focus off of Jesus. Don't just seek the answers.... seek THE ANSWER. Without Him, we will soon return to our own "city gates." Seek Jesus!
Thanks for reading and God bless! :)
*Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All right reserved.