Tonight, as I studied, the part that stood out to me the most was the blind man who, when hearing that Jesus was walking by, cried out, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.”
The scene is vivid in my mind: Here, a blind man, begging for Jesus to heal his sight. At first, Jesus’s disciples tried to hush the man, but it made him cry out even more. “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!” The man persisted with his cries and eventually Jesus approached him and healed him.
The thought that I have with this passage is this: What would it take for us to cry out, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!” This man had lost his eye sight. How far would our suffering need to go before we would cry out for the mercy of Christ?
I can recall a conference talk (maybe Pres. Eyring?) where he told of a story of a man who finally became truly converted to the gospel after learning he was sick and would soon die. He told of his ability to finally be blessed with holding the Priesthood after so many years of choosing to be away from the gospel just before he passed away. He told of the happiness, love and light that he was finally able to experience there in his last days.
I remember listening to this story and bursting with tears … “Why do we wait?!” That happiness and joy was right there his entire life, but he chose not to see it. He could have felt it sooner, have known it sooner, have lived it sooner and shared it with others. Why do we wait?
So considering what it would take for us to cry out, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me” … why wait for that crisis that brings us to our knees? Why wait? Why not plead for His mercy now and let His love into our hearts now, on a daily basis, where we can enjoy it, appreciate it and share it with others. We don’t have to wait.
