Bugging parents and Jesus

It's hard to get your parents' attention sometimes. You yell for your mother 17 times in a row, and at first she doesn't hear you. Then she tells you to stop bugging her; she's busy right now! But you know that if you bother her enough, she'll stop what she's doing and listen to you.

Jesus' followers knew that, too. Jesus was the busiest man around; but in this week's Gospel (Mark 10:46-52), one of His followers won't leave Jesus alone until he gets God's attention!

As Jesus walked with a crowd of people, a blind man sat by the road, yelling, "Jesus, have pity on me!" "Shut up!" some people said, but the man yelled louder: "Jesus, have pity on me!" Jesus called him over and said, "What do you want me to do?" "Master," the man answered, "I want to see." Jesus told him, "Your faith has saved you." And the man could see! So he got up and followed Jesus.

When your mother's on the phone and you want her, why do you yell for her when you know she's busy? You probably think that what you need is more important than her work right now. Sometimes, your plan works: She puts down the phone just so you'll stop yelling!

The blind man Jesus met felt the same way. Jesus was busy teaching about God, but the blind man knew his only chance to see would be if he could bother Jesus enough to heal him! So he yelled until Jesus stopped what He was doing and listened.

Most of the time, it isn't a good idea to bug your mother when she's busy. It's better to tell her what you need, then wait 'til she can help you. But sometimes, you just have to bother your parents: If you burned your hand, that's more important than your mom's folding laundry right now!

For the blind man in the Gospel story, seeing Jesus was one of those important times. If the man waited 'til Jesus was done teaching, he might lose his chance to be cured. Like you, the man had to think about how much he needed what he was asking for right now. His answer was easy: Bug Jesus!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me to bug you more and my parents less! Amen.

(10-23-97)

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