Be Careful What You Ask For

As seen in the HEARTbeat and the Village Voice

Be Careful What You Ask

            When I hear this phrase, my mind immediately goes to a family member, a nephew to be exact.  Years ago when he was around four or five, family members would ask him what he wanted for Christmas.  He was pretty consistent with his answer, but it left the giver somewhat scratching their head.  The conversation would go something like this: “Josh, what do you want for Christmas?”  He would respond, “I want blue presents and white presents!”  You see, he wasn’t aware that Christmas time was all about the exchange of gifts – the things in the box.  At his young age, all he could remember was the finely decorated tree and all the colorful wrappings underneath it.  He must have been drawn to the outside beauty of the blue and white wrappings and keenly unaware of the contents.  Therefore, he wanted what in his eyes are the prettiest of the colors with which to surround a box, blue and white presents.

            The apostles were a lot like my nephew.  They spouted some things around Jesus which must have made him shake his head.  After all, even though they understood Jesus was the Messiah, they still didn’t fully understand Jesus’ purpose.  They thought, as most Jews did, the prophesied Messiah would come, free them from the rule of Rome, set up His earthly kingdom and return the nation of Israel to its former position of glory and power.  Even the people who followed Jesus around believed in the same manner as did the apostles.  It’s almost as if they looked at Jesus as the up-and-coming CEO of the new Jewish nation.

            Because the apostles had their sights set on earthly matters and not heavenly ones, they said some things to which they did not know the ramifications of the request.  Simon Peter boldly asked Jesus to let him walk on the water out to where Jesus was standing.  Jesus bid Peter to come, and for a short time, we have the only recorded human to actually walk on water (again, for a short time).  Even the mother of the Zebedee brothers asked Jesus if her sons could occupy the seats next to Him when He established His kingdom.  At one point, even the two brothers asked Jesus the same question.  His response could be read as, “You don’t know what you’re asking for.”  They didn’t know that being placed in such positions of prominence, they would be subject to the same horrific treatment as Jesus knew He would soon experience.

            Be careful what you ask for, you might just get it!  We’ve all heard the phrase from our elders as we were growing up.  One thing is for certain however.  When we ask Jesus to come into our life be our Savior, we will become brothers and joint heirs with Him in the riches of Heaven.  So, in this case I must say, be certain what you ask for, and you will definitely receive the promise of eternal life!