READING:
One-year plan: Matthew 20-22
Two-year plan: Lamentations 3:1-26, Hebrews 10:19-39
———
I admit that I’m not a very good listener. I get focused on what I’m doing, and I don’t always hear the specific voices of those around me. I’m sure I occasionally miss cries for help because I’m not always as alert as I need to be to my surroundings.
Jesus, on the other hand, heard the cries of hurting people around Him. In today’s reading, He heard the cries of two blind men over against the noise of a crowd and the reality of a cross hanging over His shoulders.
The crowd was not pleased with the cries of the needy men, so they tried to quiet them – but the men “cried out all the more” (Matt 20:31). Their desperation would not allow them to be quiet. Jesus not only heard them, but He also called them forth and healed them: “Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed him” (Matt 20:34).
As Jesus so often did, He instantaneously healed the men and changed their world. The noise around Him did not hinder Him from hearing and healing these men, as His ear was always attuned to the cries of hurting people. I need my ears to be equally sensitive.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: How sensitive are your ears to needs around you?
PRAYER: “Lord, help me to hear You wherever I am.”
TOMORROW’S READING:
One-year plan: Matthew 23-24
Two-year plan: Lamentations 3:27-66, Hebrews 11:1-10
MEMORIZATION VERSE (October 1-15)
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1)