October 28, 2012 · Mark 10:46–52

Have Mercy on Me

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging.

“Well, that was because God knew that that wasn't the mercy that he needed. But we need to ask for mercy, because he's in the business of giving us mercy. He'll give us the mercies that we need. And all he asks us to do is to remember he's merciful — to ask him, to approach him like he's merciful. So I think we need to be bold and start asking Jesus for mercy again. You need to think about Jesus foremost. And so go home today and just say, Jesus, have mercy on me. You know, when you're walking through your day — Jesus, have mercy on me. It's a prayer I — I need to say myself. Also, do what you need to do to hear the voice of Jesus. Don't be distracted by the crowds. Don't let our possessions drag us down through the mud. Get yourself in the path of Jesus. And this day, you know, we have so many things that we need to worry about. Maybe we need to turn off the TV, or turn off the internet, or turn off the radio. Just get alone. Get into some silence to hear his voice. Our Jesus, who is God himself, needed to sneak off in the middle of the morning, get away from everyone, to hear the voice. Who are we to think maybe that we don't need to bother with that, right? That's — we need to get to hear that merciful voice. We need to get ourselves alone to hear it. You know what — means you need to set yourself up along the path, so that when Jesus comes through you have that connection. You know, that chance. And the spiritual disciplines are some of the most amazing ways to do this.”