John 10 - The Blind Man and The Lost Sheep

 

I’ve been reading through John 10 recently. I find it such an interesting chapter, especially because it’s clearly talking about the man healed of blindness in John 9, but few commentators say anything about this.

What did the blind man have to do to meet Christ? What did he have to do to earn it? Nothing. He sat there with his problem and Jesus came and rescued him… Then the religious people were bent on making him their disciples instead of Jesus’s disciple. In John 10 Jesus spends a great deal of time explaining why this happened to the pharisees.

A couple interesting things stuck out to me here…

• The pharisees weren’t interested really in going out and finding lost sheep. They had the attitude that sheep would come to them.

• The blind man instantly followed Jesus, and knew something wasn’t right about how the Pharisees were doing things. He didn’t join them but rather went back out on the street. How many people are genuine followers of Jesus but they don’t fit the church mold and have decided to stay on the streets?

• Jesus chose the blind man, but it was the blind man’s choice to stand up to the Pharisees. Jesus almost always initiates - our decision is what we’ll do with that… and this unlikely witness was the strongest one in the gospel against the pharisees!

• Jesus made his entire ministry about the One. The one person, the one woman, the one blind man… He treated everyone individually and “calls them by name”. The Pharisees thought in general and were making decisions for the crowd, often worrying what the crowd thought.

Lack of Motivation

 

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you” - Psalm 73:25

 

So, yesterday I thought I was lacking all my motivation and drive that I used to have. And yes, while 90% of my motivation is gone, I realized I still have some… The motivation to sleep, rest, spend time with my family and read. It’s like I lost most of my energy. I am wondering if this is my new normal.

 

Interestingly enough, all those motivations I still have left are healthy and probably more of what I need at the moment. I have been waiting for my schedule to clear up so I can do more of these things - reading, resting spending more time with God. My schedule didn’t clear up but now I just don’t care if I wake up with 10 missed calls and 30 urgent emails. It’s not the way I thought my schedule would make room, but I guess it works?

 

I also don’t mind stopping just to enjoy Jesus. Plants, birds, trees, my kids’ smiles. I did those things before but it was always forced - like I always had something to get back to. Now those seem like the important things.

 

How much is unhealthy apathy? How much is needed course correction? I guess we’ll find out over the next few weeks.

 

Condemnation

 

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. - Romans 8:1

No condemnation in Christ… Has anyone told the church that? I feel the most condemned by people IN the church. I was a pillar in this house of doing things, and my stepping out for a while has left people thinking I am backsliding or traumatized from the cyclone. It’s been two weeks and things are falling apart that are fine when I am more involved. I used to get up and drive myself to the end of the day. People were happy but my soul was dying. Now I am much more at peace and my family is happier, but the externals are crumbling. I know very few people who would think this state is an improvement over my status quo of the extremely driven Jon, but if it’s where God is taking me, who am I to argue? And how many people are just in my life for what I can do for them?

 

I guess my role in this is to stay in Christ, because I can’t claim this verse if I’m not. And Christ is saying rest, prioritize, learn. Carry only His burdens.

 

Stand in the presence of the Lord and wait for Him to act. - Psalm 37:7

 

Stand and wait. I can do that.