The Gospel

Matthew 20:29-34

Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. 30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”
31 Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”
32 So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
33 They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.” 34 So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

In the days when Jesus walked the earth the Jewish custom was for a blind person to wear a garment that showed everyone that he/she was blind. Today they have the white cane with the red part at the bottom.......then they had this garment. When these fellows were hollering at the top of their lungs for Jesus to have mercy on them, He knew exactly what they needed and what they wanted. Not by their garments, but because Jesus knows all. I'm sure the folks around knew what they wanted based upon what they were wearing, but of course they couldn't know for sure what they wanted. But Jesus did. But rather than reach out and just heal them, He asked them, "What do you want Me to do for you?" They answered, "That our eyes may be opened." Then we see He had compassion on them and healed them. Well folks........there's a great lesson here. Even though Jesus knows exactly what we want, we must ask the Father directly, in Jesus name for what we need and want. I think we could all stand to have our eyes opened, don't you? Tonight before you go to bed, ask the Lord to open your eyes.........your spiritual eyes to those around you.......those who are in need......those who are searching for answers. All the world is searching for the truth........and you know Him (Jesus, the Truth...John 14:6) personally. I asked the youth the other day, "If I were curious and met you one day and asked you, 'How do I become a Christian?', what would you answer?" Now I must ask you.......what would you answer? We need to know what we believe, and why we believe it. If we don't know what we believe or why we believe it.......what makes us think others will? Also, I asked, "What is the Gospel?" Now I ask you the same. Let me give you the simplest of answers for these questions.......and they directly biblical. How does one become a Christian? Romans 10:8-10. Believe in your heart on the Lord Jesus, and confess with your mouth that belief. What is the Gospel? The plain truth is: Jesus born of a virgin, lived a perfect life without sin, died on the cross for my sins, and arose from the dead on the third day. Notice I said "my sins" because it has to be personal. That's the Gospel. Everything else is secondary. Many religious things have blurred our vision of the simplicity of God's plan. I don't get to heaven because I do more good than bad. I don't get there by living a holy life, although those things are important.........they are, in a word.........secondary. I KNOW I'm going to heaven because Jesus died for my sins and they are not only gone, but forgotten. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee glory!!! Is there any better news than that? Have a great day and God bless. :-) PJ