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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me understand when it's OK to be stubborn, and when it isn't! Amen.

A blind man named Bartimaeus heard Jesus passing by and yelled, "Jesus, have pity on me!" "Shut up!" people said, but he yelled more. Finally, Jesus said, "What do you want me to do for you?" "I want to see," said Bartimaeus. "Your faith has saved you," Jesus told him. Suddenly, he could see! So he got up and followed Jesus.

Most kids are stubborn. When a little kid doesn't want to go somewhere, he'll drop to the ground, hanging from his mother's hand, winding up for a tantrum. Stubbornness is not funny, but kids try it because sometimes, it works.

Adults may get exasperated with your stubbornness, but most of them are stubborn, too! Sometimes, being stubborn is even a good thing. This week's Gospel (Mark 10:46-52) talks about one of those times.

Being stubborn because you want something in a store or don't want to go to bed at night turns what could be a nice time into an argument. You may hold your parents up at the store, but begging probably won't get you what you want; you may put off bedtime for a few minutes, but you'll be upset and won't enjoy it anyway.

In the Gospel story, Jesus meets a man who's blind and wants to see. Jesus is busy, with lots of people to teach - but the man is more stubborn than the people who try to shut him up. He won't stop begging Jesus to heal him. No one can concentrate on Jesus' teaching, because the stubborn man keeps yelling!

There's a difference between a stubborn kid and that man. When you're being stubborn, what you want usually isn't good. You want to stay up when you're tired or get something you don't need.

The blind man wanted to see. He was stubborn because he knew he was asking for something so simple for Jesus to give, but so important to the man. Jesus, who's smarter than any of us, recognized that this was a rare time when stubbornness was a good thing - so He healed the man. And the man repaid Him by following Him forever![[In-content Ad]]

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