Faithfulness

“Jesus said to him in reply, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man replied, ‘Master, I want to see.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go your way; your faith has saved you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.” (Mark 10:51-52)

Faith is a gift from God. It is a gift that we must accept from Him and then nurture it. Bartimaeus doesn’t just receive his healing and go on like we see in the story of the ten lepers. No, he is fully aware of the Giver of his gift of sight and wants to live out his life in gratitude and faithfulness to God. The basis of our faithfulness is God’s faithfulness throughout the ages. There is a constancy to God that is unchanging, therefore he is worthy of our trust. God remains faithful even when we are not. He is always there to receive us with love and mercy when we decide to return to him. “The favors of the LORD are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent; they are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness.”  (Lamentations 3:22-23)

What blindness do we need to overcome? If we truly want to “see” so that we can live as we have been called to live then we must pray for God to reveal to us our brokenness, to see the areas in our lives where we are failing. To see the sins that we try to downplay and the idols in our lives that pull us from Him.  In the gospel the men tell the blind man, “Take courage; get up he is calling you.” Lord, give me the courage to look at these areas in my life so that you can heal them. Help me to live a life of faithfulness as Bartimaeus did.  I want to live a life of gratitude and faithfulness. Help me to see that living a life of faithfulness doesn’t require me to do great things but to do everything with great love.