As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.”
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.”
Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.
There is a lot of symbolism with the beggar on the side of the road today. We are all the beggar. Jesus tells us in JN 15:5, “ I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing”. We need God, our Father and Creator. Everything flows from His love. This is what we are made for. When we realize this, we understand why we are the beggar. What saves the beggar? His belief that Jesus Christ can do anything, his faith. He continues to shout even when others tried to hold him back or told him to be quiet. We must continue to persevere in our faith, our belief in Jesus Christ and that He has the power to heal us. We are born sinners and need a Savior. Jesus heals us physically, mentally, and spiritually. What words does the beggar use? Today, we call it the Jesus prayer. Many well-known authors in spirituality use the Jesus prayer to bring the Holy Spirit to them to start their prayer saying over and over, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me”. This helps us to bring ourselves into the presence of God with humility. We desire communion with God. This prayer is a great way to bring yourself into His presence. The beggar realizes he is in the presence of God and that He can do nothing apart from Him. When Jesus says, “Call him”. He springs up (this is the result of joy which God gives us) and Jesus says, “What do you want me to do for you?” Oh, how we all desire to hear these words from Jesus. This is a difficult question though. If you could have anything from Jesus, what would it be? Your answer will be a result of you knowing yourself, who God is, and what your purpose is. If we ask for material things, we have failed. If we ask for being with Him forever, we are on the right track in our life. The beggar asks to see, but it is not for his blindness it to see God, to be saved, to be holy, to be a saint! The blind man, then, does not turn and walk away from Jesus but, “followed him on the way”. He became a servant of God, a disciple of Christ, and followed Him. An amazing testament to how we should approach God and become His followers. We then, in turn, must share it with others and forever persistently thank God for His great love for us.
Today’s challenge: Approach God humbly like the beggar, desire to see what He sees, then leap forth and follow Him.
Be a servant, become a saint!
Christian YOLO
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