Read Mark 10:46-52
”And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me” (v. 48).
“They thought I was a corpse!” the rescued sailor said.
Trapped in water up to his chest in a cabin of the overturned boat, he little expected the pocket of air sustaining his life to last much longer. Hour after hour he stood atop a pile of mattresses, his muscles screaming for relief as the chilly water sapped his body’s warmth and strength. Awaiting death, he quoted Scripture and prayed for rescue.
Suddenly, he heard hammering overhead. With all his remaining strength, he banged back. When a diver’s headlamp pierced the darkness of his watery prison, he stretched out his hand and squeezed the diver’s fingers in a desperate, silent plea for deliverance.
The crewman could have succumbed to despair. Likewise, blind Bartimaeus could have permitted the crowd’s disapproval to deprive him of a miracle. But his need was great, and the Healer was passing by. He cried out and received his sight. Today, we can cry out to the Great Deliverer whatever our need. Jesus will hear the faintest heart cry and respond in love. (Joyce Cooper)
Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by.
You’ll find He’s not too busy to hear your heart’s cry.
He’s passing by this moment your need to supply.
Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by. — Bill Harmon
Have a need? Just reach out to Jesus by faith.
This is the Friday, December 19, 2014 devotional reading of Opening the Word.
Photo credit: "STATION SAN FRANCISCO (FOR RELEASE)" by Tidewater Muse used under CC BY 2.0 / Resized, cropped.