Good morning! Our lessons in today's devotional is drawn from the encounter Bartimaeus had with Jesus. Jesus was on his way from Jericho and as usual, the crowds were there, we pick up the story from where Bartimaeus hears that Jesus was passing by;
"Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!”
Mark 10:46-49 NLT.
Bartimaeus was able to personally see Jesus; ahead of the crowd and onlookers. We've said before; "never follow the crowd if you want to see Jesus", the people in the crowd are usually there for different reasons.
Next we note that for Bartimaeus to see Jesus, he expressed his faith. Even though he was blind and could not have been 100% he shouting in the direction of where Jesus was, he shouted all the same; "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me." I am certain he probably shouted several times because some in the crowd tried to silence him. Next lesson, if you listen to the crowd ahead of Jesus, they will succeed in silencing your dream. The crowd is the for the crowd, you focus on what you are there for.
Next, we also see that the very ones that were trying to silence him, were the same people that ushered him forward to see Jesus. If you hold on to your dream long enough, your detractors will soon become part of the entourage to welcome you into success.
Our final lessons comes from what happens when Bartimaeus finally comes face to face with Jesus. He was obviously blind and Jesus would have seen that it took the help of those around him for Bartimaeus to get to Jesus, yet Jesus asked him;
"“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.
Mark 10:51-52 NLT.
Think about it, Bartimaeus could have been wondering; is this man blind too? But no, he exactly how faith works; faith is specific. Faith knows what it wants.
The next time you are trusting God for something, better be certain you know what you want and what the word of God says about it.
