What Do You Desire?

It is a simple question with a difficult answer. Our desires drive our decisions. Our decisions drive our behaviors. Our behaviors drive our emotions. Our emotions complete the cycle by driving our desires. It is like a dog chasing its tail. We’re constantly moving but going nowhere.

At that time, as Jesus went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the roadside, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent; but they cried out the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And Jesus stopped and called them, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they received their sight and followed him.

Matthew 20.29-34

In today’s Gospel lesson, two blind men are chasing after Christ. Some would even say they were pestering him, based on the response of the crowd. This moment had tension. The crowd was enjoying time with Christ, only to be disrupted by the two blind men. Christ saw it a different way.

“What do you want me to do for you?” He asked. The crowd already had what they desired. They were already spending time with Him. The two blind men wanted something else. They wanted to see Him with their own eyes. Just as He obliged the crowd what they wanted; He obliged the blind men.

When we desire to be with Christ, He will always give us what we need our desire. That is because He desires the same thing. Christ came so that we could be united to Him. He desires us, so when we desire Him, He grants our desire.

What do you desire? Now that you know Christ desires you to be with Him, don’t expect to ‘get what you want’ if what you want isn’t what He wants. Christ is not a genie in a bottle that exists to grant our every desire.

That doesn’t make every desire a bad thing. It is good to desire a good job. It is good to desire a safe place to live. It is good to desire a loving and faithful family. The disconnect happens when our desires become about us rather than God.

Having a loving family ‘just so’ we can be honored by others is not what God desires. Having a loving family dedicated to loving God is. Have a good job ‘just’ so we can have a beach house is not what God desires. Having a job so we can feed our family and help others is.

Every desire can lead either to chasing our tail or to God. It is up to us. The two blind men wanted to see God. When they received their desire, they followed Him. That’s what happens when we desire what God desires.