Bless the Lord, O my soul,   
And all that is within me,   
bless His holy name.   
Bless the Lord, O my soul,   
And forget none of His benefits.   
- Psalms 103:1-2   
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"What will ye that I shall do unto you?"

          As Jesus was leaving Jericho a great multitude was following him as he walked along the road. As they were traveling they came upon two blind men who were sitting by the way side. As they heard the commotion of the great crowd passing by they learned that it was Jesus who was in the group and they began to cry out for him. As they cried more and more to Jesus to have mercy on them their plea was heard and Jesus stopped and called for them to be brought unto him. Jesus asked one simple question of them. “What will ye that I shall do unto you?”(Matthew 20:29-34).

            Now just imagine standing before the Son of God and he requires of you of what he should do for you. What answers would race through your mind? How would you answer Jesus, the Son of God of what you would want him to do for you. This was the great question that was posed to these two men. The answer that they chose was for their physical infirmity to be improved. “They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.” At this time the most pressing need to them was to have their sight. There would be no more sitting by the way begging from people so that they could survive from day to day. No more depending upon the compassion of others for your daily substance. This was their choice. Heal my physical condition. They were thinking of just the here and now. Is that the choice that you would make if Jesus posed that question to you? Would your answer be to have some physical ailment restored? You know Paul had asked the Lord three times to have his physical ailment removed from him (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Jesus told Paul that through these physical weaknesses that the strength found in Jesus was made complete. The strength that we receive through Jesus to overcome these physical ailments is made complete as we trust and rely on him. It does not mean that they will go away but rather that we can live each day with them. Our Lord had compassion on these two blind men sitting by the way and that same compassion is also present for us from our Savior.

            In another incident we find the mother of James and John coming to Jesus with a desire from him in Matthew 20:20-23. We find in Mark’s account that Jesus asked the question “What would ye that I should do for you?” (Mark 10: 35-40). The desire and request was that in glory they would be elevated above all others in sitting at the right and left hand of Jesus. They were asking to be recognized with prominence above all others. Wanting to be seen as distinguished by others is a form of pride. They wanted to be noticed above all others by processing the positions on either side of Jesus in his glory. Is this something that we would ask our Lord of? Would we ask of Jesus something that would elevate us in the presence of other people so that we would be noticed? This can even come in the form of asking Jesus for material blessings so that others would take notice of us. Lord give me a much nicer house or give me a much nicer vehicle or give me this fabulous job. The result would be admiration from others as they look upon our possessions and say wow- look what they have.

            Looking at the incident in Luke 23: 39-43 we find another person requesting something from our Lord. We find one of the male factors that was being crucified with Jesus asking this “Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” This man was thinking of his eternity and where he wanted to be. What would happen to his soul had now become top priority for him. As he was facing death his concern now turned to his soul and where he would spend eternity. He had lived a life that was not pleasing and right in God’s sight as he admits “And we indeed justly: for we receive the due reward of our deeds.” He was now concerned for his soul. Would that be our request if Jesus asked us “What will ye that I shall do unto you?” Would we respond concerning the betterment for our spiritual condition? Lord lead me to your words of eternal life and help me live by them so that my soul may be blessed in eternity. Would this be our request above all others? We had others that asked Jesus “Lord teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1) or “give understanding in all things” (2 Timothy 2:7) while some asked for boldness to preach the gospel (Acts 4:29). What do you ask of the Lord that he should do for you when your prayer is offered up to him?

- Larry Bumgardner



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