A Second Touch

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”  — Mark 8:23-24

So, some people bring a blind guy to Jesus.  Jesus spits on the guy’s eyes (good thing he was blind), and puts his hands on him.  Then, Jesus asks “Do you see anything?”  These questions always mess with me.  When Jesus does this, you know that He is trying to teach us something.  You know and I know that He knows the answer.  It’s kind of like those goofy math teachers that ask if a problem is correct…oh…that would be me.

Well, the guy was NOT like one of the other blind men healed by Jesus that just jump up and down, hoot and holler, and run off telling everyone what Jesus had done for him.  He simply says “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”  What in the world just happened?

Here’s the deal.  The guy knew that something had happened to him.  He was glad to be touched.  However, he was not completely delivered.  He only got half-healed.  His sight was not clear…yet!

I believe this is a picture of where so many Christians are right now.  Sure, you know you’ve been saved, you can even pin-point the moment that Jesus touched your life in an awesome way.  Something definitely happened to you.  However, you just still feel a little bit defeated.  You aren’t like the other people that God touched who seem to be thriving, making a difference, and seem to have this all-the-time joy that you don’t have.  Let me go ahead and tell you, it’s because you need a second touch!

Check out verse 25: Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes.  Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly!

Today, will you dare to tell Jesus that you believe you’ve only been half healed?  Ask Him to give you a second touch from His mighty hand.  Tell Him you are willing to give up whatever it is that you are doing that displeases Him.  Tell Him there is nothing more important in your life than Him and His presence.  Receive His forgiveness for your complacency.

It may be that He opened  your eyes the exact same amount that you were willing to surrender.  For example, if you asked Him to forgive you but you knew there was junk in your life that you were going to hold on to, then you were holding back on Him.  Now, He saved you, I don’t want to make this sound like a light thing.  But, if you only half-committed to Him, your eyes may be only half-opened.  Just maybe you are not experiencing total sight.

To this day, I am being convicted of “little” stuff in my life that I have justified as okay.   Some stuff I can’t find in the Bible as being wrong, so it must be okay, right?  WRONG!  I realized pretty quickly that I have got to stop this “find a verse” mentality.  If I am looking for a verse, or the absence of one, to justify my behavior, well it’s probably just plain wrong.  Here’s the cool part though:  Do you know what happens every single time I choose to lay another sin down at His feet?  He opens my eyes even more.  He fills my heart even more with His Spirit.  He gives me cooler stuff to write and preach.

Listen, all I’m saying to do today is examine how much of your life you have surrendered to Him.  On a scale from 1 to 10, 1 is no surrender, 10 is totally surrendered.  Where are you?  What is the number?

If it’s 1 through 9, consider the fact that you might see men as trees walking around.   What is keeping you from seeing clearly?  You know you’ve been touched, but man, you don’t want to live the rest of your life not completely being able to see.

Today and the rest of your tomorrows, give Him your 10 and see!

Later

Adam