What Do You Want?

Matthew 6:24 NKJV

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Pray: Father help us to know what it is we truly want and help us to want what truly is good. Amen.

I want to talk to you about how your response to God can change everything in your life.

Have you ever had a time in your walk of faith where you think that you are not where you want to be or where you think you should be?

Sometimes we experience situations and circumstances that are beyond our control. There have been times where I’ve been hurt or hindered or thrown off track. And these things can be physical, emotional, or spiritual.

These moments have the potential to stop us from moving forward.

We’ve seen this with the pandemic—people got used to being isolated and now struggle to return to community.

This happens with trauma from failure, or abuse, or sickness—these things can drastically impact us and make it difficult to keep moving forward.

This happens when leaders and heroes fail us. Their sin and mistakes can make us wonder if there is even a point to going forward.

What God wants us to understand is that the change we need is dependent upon the posture we take and the choices we make. It is true that God is working and God is drawing us toward Him. But that work is so that we might see Him and seek Him and turn to Him in faith.

When we can embrace the truth that our answer to God, our response to Him, has the power to change everything then we will begin to walk in new life.

When God Comes Near

Mark 10:46–52 NKJV

46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” 50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. 51 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

Often we get stuck in life and faith because we are waiting on God to come directly to us. Unfortunately, God will often walk by us, where we can see or hear Him, but He will wait for us to make the first move.

In this moment, Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to what would be called, “The Triumphal Entry.” People were going to cut down branches and palm leaves and throw down their outer garments on the road as He rode through on a colt. They would cry out Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! They would celebrate and worship and rejoice that the King and Messiah had come (see Mark 11.7-10).

Faith pleases God (Hebrews 11.6). It gets His attention and invites Him into our lives and situations. This is why we need to learn how to believe God and boldly come to Him in faith.

God heard blind Bartimaeus. His call of faith stopped Jesus in his tracks and caused Him to give the man an audience. If this works for a blind beggar on the road to Jerusalem, think about what faith can do for us. With God, all things are possible (Mark 10.27)! We have the same spirit of faith, believing and speaking and we can experience the compassion and grace of God (cf. 2 Corinthians 4.13)

Moving in Faith

To leverage the power of our faith, here are some things we can do in order to get started.

Let It Go

Mark 10:46–48 NKJV

46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Bartimaeus was blind. Circumstances in his life had led to this moment. His way to make it in life was to beg. He was no one special. Not of an important family. He had no status.

When people walked by him, his oversized garment and requests for assistance identified him as a beggar.

He heard Jesus was coming and he began to cry out. The original word came from the croaking of ravens, and meant a loud and raucous voice. His normal requests became amplified and urgent and disrupted the crowd.

In response crowds began to harshly rebuke him. They severely charged him to “hold his peace” and be silent. Just like when the apostles told the little children to go away and leave Jesus alone, the crowds tried to prevent this man from engaging Jesus.

But he got louder.

Mark 10:49–50 NKJV

49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” 50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.

This last verse is powerful. When the blind man heard that Jesus wanted to speak to him, he threw aside his garment. The beggar’s garment represented is condition. It represented his past. It represented is failure, inability, his weakness.

He had to let the past go so that he could get up and go toward a new life and new identity in God. He had to push past the crowds and those who could only see who he was and not who he was meant to be.

Illustration: Proposing to my wife was kind of scary. Of course you want to be accepted by someone you love and want to hear them say, “yes.” But it’s also scary when you think about letting go of life as you know it. When you think of all the unknowns and the work that it will require. When you are single life is different. You can do things how you want and when you want. You can keep your place messy or clean or in order as you like. You have less expenses and less responsibilities. You have to let that life go to get married. You are no longer your own. You are in a partnership and have responsibilities and different expectations. But to enjoy the blessings of marriage, you have to let go of the single life.

To move forward in faith, you need to let go of the labels. You need to let go of your past failures, your mistakes, and the sins that so easily weigh you down (cf. Hebrews 12.1-2).

Make a Decision to Move

Mark 10:50 NKJV

And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.

The translation here is somewhat unfortunate in English. Rose would better be translated as “leaped up” or “springed up.” He didn’t just rise from the ground and throw off his cloak. He jumped up and threw it off.

I think this is an excellent picture of faith. Faith responds to the voice of God. Circumstances hold us down but faith jumps up.

His jump indicated that he had expectation. He believed that Jesus was about to do something. Discouragement wants to keep you down, focused on what you don’t have or what isn’t working but expectation causes you to move.

Hebrews 4:16 NKJV

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Illustration: Salvation decision testimony. He called. I had to step. I had to respond. And because I did, I was saved.

Jesus didn’t come any closer to the man. He called him. The blind beggar could have been offended, or discouraged, or bitter but instead he was expectant, responsive, and bold.

Don’t get trapped by indecision. Choose who you will trust. Choose to draw near to God. Make a decision to go to God with your needs and trust that He will respond to your faith.

Make Our Request Known

Mark 10:51 NASB 2020

And replying to him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the man who was blind said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!”

Jesus asked Bartimaeus a simple and profound question—“What do you want Me to do for you?” His answer is astonishing.

First, he responded to Jesus by calling Him Rabboni. When you look at the story, there is a hidden request here. Earlier, he cried out to Jesus and called Him, “Son of David.” This was a messianic term. No one outside of the disciples had made the leap and called Jesus the Messiah. And yet, here a blind man does.

Then, he calls Him Rabboni which means literally, “my great One” or “my Master.” This is a term of reverent respect and in the gospels it is only disciples who call Jesus this.

Ultimately, Bartimaeus follows Jesus as a disciple (the fact his father’s name is included in the narrative indicates that those who are in the group know who he is).

His unspoken request is, “Jesus—I want to follow you.”

And the second part of the request, was “I want to regain my sight.” But it is more than that…it is I want to recover my sight now. It is a simple and bold request believing that Jesus would heal him instantly and completely.

Philippians 4:6 NKJV

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Illustration: Norway. Stop snowing.

What do you want? What do you want God to do for you? Ask boldly. Ask in faith. Ask believing that God is willing and able! All things are possible with God!

Move Forward With God

Mark 10:52 NKJV

Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

I believe that it is what we do after we let it go, make a decision, and make our request known that has the greatest affect on our lives.

Jesus had compassion on Bartimeus and healed him. He told him to go his way. But what did Bartimeus do? He followed Jesus on the road.

The word road can be translated as journey. And following, for the disciple, was to walk the same direction and same path as the Master. In other words, instead of going his own way, He walked in the way of Jesus as he journeyed forward.

There was a similar story where 10 lepers came to Jesus for healing. He healed them all and told them to go to the Temple and report to the priests. As they went the bible declares that they were cleansed (Luke 17.12-14).

One of them, when he saw that he had been healed came back and worshipped Jesus and gave thanks. Jesus marveled that the others did not come. To the one who returned, He said, “Your faith has healed and saved you” (Luke 17.19 MSG).

Don’t just receive your miracle from God and go back to the side of the road. Go with God into the life He has prepared for you.

Conclusion

The man wanted much more than his sight. He wanted to be with Jesus. He wanted the things that kept him from living the good and beautiful life that Jesus preached and demonstrated to be out of the way so that he could enter in.

What are we going to do with the answers of freedom, change, healing, provision that we want? Will we serve the Lord in it and follow Him in the victory of faith or will we go back to our old lives and serve another master?

Let it go—everything that is preventing you from living the abundant life.

Make a decision to move towards God.

Make your requests known to God with faith and boldness and when God answers,

Move forward with Him.

If you will do these things you will discover that not only does God hear you, he answers you (1 John 5.14-15).

Bartimaeus’ life changed because he responded to Jesus’ question. If we will respond in faith we will discover that there is a life of peace, healing, victory and goodness waiting for us.

Altar: Let’s pray.

What do you want from God? Why do you want it? I pray it is so that you may enter into the good and beautiful life of discipleship as you seek to follow Christ with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.