Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – November 19, 2015
Guest Writer: Meet my son-in-law Tripp Prince. We are blessed to have him as our guest writer.
And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Mark 10:51-52
Have you ever wanted something so badly that you were willing to rearrange your entire life in order to get it? Whether it’s a romantic relationship, a dream job, or an athletic achievement, we all have things that we deeply desire and pursue wholeheartedly. In fact, we can give ourselves so fully to these pursuits that we never stop and ask if they are, in fact, worthy of our investment of time, money, and emotion.
God deeply desires that we live full and meaningful lives. And yet, so often our picture of “life to the fullest” fails to match up with God’s desire for us. Culturally, we are bombarded daily with a tidal wave of competing promises of fulfillment and happiness. We’re told that happiness is found in sex, money, power, education, and social status. If we have all of these, then surely we’re living the good life! What else could we possibly want or desire?
If we buy into this picture of the good life, then fail to achieve all of these things, we believe that we are failures and we start telling ourselves lies: “If God truly loved me, he would have given me that job.” “If God knew just how deeply I wanted this relationship to work out, he never would have let him leave.” We must remember that the full and meaningful life is never found in our situations or circumstances. Our deepest desires are met when we seek to know and follow Jesus, not because of what he does for us, but simply because he loves us.
In Mark’s gospel, Bartimaeus asks Jesus to heal his blindness. This is a deep desire of his heart, yet he doesn’t simply view Jesus as a miraculous healer passing through town. He isn’t asking Jesus to swoop in and solve his problem so he can get on with living the good life. He knows that in Jesus the deepest desires of the human heart are met; in following Jesus every longing he’s ever had for identity and purpose is now met.
Jesus is inviting you today to explore the deepest desires of your heart. If you’ve sought to find answers in other places but have been left wanting, turn afresh to Jesus. Free yourself from empty promises of fulfillment and find your identity, purpose, and worth in “following Jesus on the way.”
Prayer: Father, give us a desire to know you and have our hearts transformed by your love.
Application: What desires do I have in my heart that I need to turn over to God and ask him to replace with a deep desire to know and follow him?
Related Readings: Psalm 37:4; Isaiah 26:9; Colossians 3:5; Revelation 22:17
Post/Tweet: In Jesus the deepest desires of the human heart are met. #WisdomHunters #deepestdesire
Worship Resource: 5 minute video- Bethel: Highest Praise
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