Day 169 "Being familiar with God is good; forgetting who He is, is not."

Day 169 Matthew 20:29-33 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.” So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be blind? I know I have, and no matter how much I imagine or how long I keep my eyes closed, I still have absolutely no comprehension of what it would be like to be unable to see things at will. One reason it is impossible to recreate the experience is because I always have the option of opening my eyes. I am never desperate for sight. I have never experienced the frustration or fear of blindness, nor any of the other multitudes of emotions disabled people feel. Therefore, I cannot experience blindness in the true sense of the word. However, it is apparent to me that even though these men were blinded in the visual sense, they were more than able to see clearly in the spiritual sense, for they knew who this man was. Oh yes, I am confident that everywhere Jesus went there was a buzz; multitudes of people talking about His miracles and speculating about who He was; therefore, they certainly heard people speaking of Him. However, the words they chose to describe Him with are those which are used to describe the Messiah, a word that we have heard truly very little in the proper sense to this point. You see, when someone said "Son of David," they were making a direct reference to the one who would come from the seed of David to set the captives free–the Messiah! When you precede this statement with the word "Lord," now you are first acknowledging that this person has power and authority over their realm. So, in essence, their acknowledgement of Jesus was something like this: Jesus, who has power and authority over all things and is the deliverer of all mankind, "have mercy on us." Obviously, as I mentioned above, these men were not blind in the spiritual sense; they knew who Jesus was and acknowledged Him as such and, hence, they received His attention. The reaction of Jesus in the midst of this throng of people is something we, too, should be taking a serious look at, for I believe that we, too, can learn from these men. They first fought for the right to be heard against all odds, for the multitude was attempting to quiet them. Secondly, they acknowledged Jesus for who He was and addressed Him as such, then they made petition of Him and, lastly, they followed Him. How many times when we bring our shopping list to the Lord do we forget to acknowledge Him for who He is? I would say far too often in my case. Can it be that our lack of acknowledgement of the rightful place of God, the confession and remembrance of who He is, has impeded at times our prayer life? I would never propose to you that God has placed this example here in order to get us to call Him by a particular name or use a particular word to coerce God; however, Jesus taught us how to pray in Matthew 6:9: "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name…" I would suggest to all of us that the proper way to address our God in prayer is with first acknowledging Him for who He is; after all, it does help us keep things in perspective as well. Maybe we have been a little blind. Daily Prayer: Father, I ask Your forgiveness for those times I have disrespected Your name and forgotten Your majesty. Help me to remember in the future how to address you and, while I need to be intimate and close to You, may I never forget who You are. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. "Being familiar with God is good; forgetting who He is, is not." Pastor Gene Burroughs