your faith...

i was reading in mark 10 this morning.  the story is about a blind man named bartimaeus.  short story of when Jesus is leaving a town, just walking down the road.  this blind guy, bart, hears Jesus is going to be passing by.  he starts yelling..."son of david, Jesus! mercy, have mercy on me!"  everyone tries to get this nut job to shut up and sit back down, then he gets louder...."SON OF DAVID! JESUS, MERCY, HAVE MERCY ON ME!"  (pause for one second) didnt he know about the polite way to handle things?  didnt he know, he ought to listen to all the people who werent blind, but the know the polite, nice, comfortable ways to handle things?  

(ok, continue) and i love this. reading from the message , Jesus stopped in his tracks.  apparently Jesus did not know the rules either.  Jesus ask him, what can i do for you?  Rabbi, I want to see, says the blind man.  "on your way" said Jesus.  "your faith has saved you and healed you." In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road.

for me, it is really hard not to listen to what the crowd of people are saying i should do.  but my favorite part of this story is how Jesus stops right in his tracks to see what this guy is all about!  this is the kind of faith that moves Jesus to compassion.  also, i love how bart says mercy, have mercy on me.  i dont realize how much mercy means to me sometimes.  the fact that i am NOT going to get what i really deserve!  my hope is to have enough faith that i could care less what other people think of me...  then my faith will have saved me and i can follow Jesus down the road.

how is your faith?  is it big and in dire need of Jesus?  or is small and listens to what others think?