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Still: 30 Days Finding God in the Rush and the Quiet

Attention Is
a Form of Love

Week One - Day 4 of 30 - Mark 10:49 - 4 min read

Jesus was surrounded by a crowd going somewhere. He had places to be. He stopped anyway. That stop, that full unhurried stop, changed everything for one man on the side of the road.

Today's Scripture

"Jesus stopped and said, 'Call him.' So they called to the blind man, 'Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you.'"

Mark 10:49

Also Read

Luke 18:35-43 | John 9:1-7 | Isaiah 35:4-6

Jesus Stops

I love this story because of what it reveals about how Jesus moves through the world. He is on His way to Jerusalem. There is a crowd with Him. Bartimaeus starts shouting from the side of the road and people tell him to be quiet. He is making a scene. He is inconvenient.

He shouts louder.

And Jesus. Stops.

Not a quick glance. Not a delegate-it-to-someone-else pause. He stops, He asks what Bartimaeus wants, He listens to the answer, and He heals him. Full attention. Total presence. In the middle of everything else that was happening.

The crowd walked past. Jesus did not.

There were a lot of people on that road who also heard Bartimaeus shouting. They walked past. They even shushed him. Not because they were bad people. They were just moving, focused forward, carrying the momentum of the crowd.

We do this too. Not with blind men on roadsides, usually. But with the person right in front of us who is clearly carrying something heavy, and we say "how are you?" on the way past without actually stopping to find out.

Attention is a form of love. Real attention, the kind that slows down and asks and waits for the actual answer, is one of the most countercultural things we can offer another person. And it is also one of the most Christlike.

And what about God is attention toward you?

Here is the other side of this. Jesus stopped for one shouting man on the side of a dusty road. He does not walk past you. He does not hear you from a distance and keep moving. He stops. He asks. He waits for the real answer.

You are not background noise to Him. You are the reason He stopped.

Speak This Out Loud

I am not background noise to You. I am the reason You stopped. You see me, You hear me, and You ask what I want. I will receive Your attention and return it. I will be someone who stops for others, just as You stop for me.

Today's Challenge

Today, when someone asks "how are you?" do not just brush past it. Stop. Give a real answer. And ask someone else the same question and actually wait for the answer. Be someone who stops.

Journal Prompts

Reflection Questions

Today's Prayer

Jesus, You are the God who stops. Who sees the one that everyone else is walking past. Who asks "what do You want?" and actually waits for the answer. Help me be someone who stops today. And remind me, when I feel like I am shouting from the roadside, that You have already turned toward me. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Final Word

The crowd walked past. Jesus did not. He stops for you. He stops for the one shouting from the roadside. That is who He is. And that is who He wants you to be.

With honesty and hope,
Claire