Jesus Stopped

I like to stay busy.  If I have down time, I fill it with something.  It’s my greatest strength and weakness.  I’m goal oriented, which can be good.  But I have a tendency to let relationships in my life slip in order to achieve those goals.  That is bad.

This past month I had a wake-up call, one that made me realize how important people are, and how much less important it is to achieve personal goals.  This week I also learned how sometimes we have to stop.  I had surgery to remove a tumor on my thyroid, and it amazed me how my family and friends surrounded me during my recovery.  Though the surgery was relatively minor, God used this down time to show me that relationships with others are essential to spiritual health.  I saw how my personal goals, though sometimes necessary, are not topmost because they often do not incorporate the broader spectrum of life.  Hence why they are personal.

Jesus knew the purpose for His life.  He came to be a ransom for many.  He came to save a world.  In the Bible, it tells how, one day, Jesus was walking to Jerusalem through Jericho, very aware fo the goal of the cross that was quickly approaching.  He was marching to Calvary.  He was close to fulfilling His mission.

The crowd had gathered as he walked.  Undoubtedly, there was much conversation, much noise surrounding Jesus.  One conversation might have been about a miracle they had just witnessed, maybe another about a difficult teaching they had just received.  But out of the crowd, a single voice cried out.  It was Bartimaeus, a blind begger, that they were starting to pass by.  He was crying for mercy.

Jesus could have traveled on, rationalizing that the utlimate goal was to arrive at the cross.  He could have continued without stopping, telling Himself that He must not be distracted by the one in order to save the many.  After all, human destiny hung in the balance.  He was on His way to save the world, not some minial task.  Time was critical. The entirety of humanity’s salvation was at stake.  What did He do when he heard Bartimaeous’ cries?

Jesus stopped.

I consider myself a busy person.  Who isn’t these days?  I have “important” things to do during the day.  Sometimes I feel lke I don’t have time for people.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a more important thing than saving humankind from sin.  That was Jesus’ goal.  That’s what He was busy with.  Yet He stopped for this man.  And because Jesus listened to Bartimaeus’ cries for mercy, this blind beggar was healed physicaly and spiritually.

The people who care about me stopped this past week.  They cared for and prayed for me while I recovered from surgery.  It meant more to me than they will ever realize.

Perhaps we could stop a little more.  Perhaps I could not focus so much on personal goals and more on the needs of people around me, those I know and those I do not.  Perhaps such a focus might mean that more people see Jesus in me.  Perhaps they might come to know Jesus becuase I chose to help them.  Sure, I might not reach as many personal goals in life if I focus on others, but none of my goals will ever compare to a life changed because I decided to stop.