“What do you want me to do for you?” Luke 18:41
Jesus does not ask: “What do you want to do for me?” That’s an easy question for “Type-A” personalities. But that’s not the question He’s asking. Jesus is asking, “What do you want me to do for you?” That’s harder.
Some of us are more comfortable with a religion that says, “Do something for God.” Maybe that’s where you are. You’re using your gifts, giving your money, and offering your worship: “I’m committed to my wife, my kids, my country, and my God.”
Remember President Kennedy’s famous line: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” His point was: The country can’t resource people; people have to resource the country.
There are a lot of people who think about God the same way they think about their country. They think God is dependent on them, so they begin to feel that His cause in the world depends on them, and that what really matters is what they’re able to do for Him.
But God doesn’t depend on us. We depend on Him. Jesus turns this line on its head: “My fellow Christians, ask not what you can do for God. Ask what God can do for you.” This transformed the life of Bartimaeus, and it can do the same for you.
Some of us have settled for a faith that involves belief and commitment; there’s nothing supernatural about it. You believe in Jesus. You are committed to his cause, but you don’t have an answer to the question he’s asking: “What do you want me to do for you?”
Do you have an answer to the question Jesus is asking? Why or why not?
