Our God is not a cosmic intruder who forces Himself upon us, even if by doing so we are the beneficiaries. God created us with a free-will to obey Him or ignore Him… to accept Him (His will), or reject Him. At the end of the day, we will be either glad or sad for the way in which we have exercised our free will toward Him.

Jesus came into a needy world to meet mankind’s every need. However, it’s up to each of us to acknowledge the Personhood of Christ and to invite Him to satisfy our personal needs… those of which we are not able to manage for ourselves.

Bartimaeus was blind. He was sitting beside the road at Jericho when Jesus and a large crowd passed by. Mark recorded this incident in his gospel account – He said…

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!” Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!” (10:46-51).

When Jesus walked by Bartimaeus did He not know that Bartimaeus was blind? Did He not know that He was the answer to Bartimaeus’ desperate need? Of course, He did!  Well, why then did the Lord walk past him. Even though the Lord knew of Bartimaeus’ condition… even though the Lord knows everything about everyone in the world He will not violate His divinely-imposed boundary of our free-will that requires each of us to exercise to either call out to Him for help or to remain silent as He walks by.

Concerning the satisfaction of our needs, Jesus has a part to play and we have a part to play. As Jesus is constantly playing His part, while seated at the Father’s right hand, the next move is always ours to make. Jesus is forever alive and in position to minister to our needs but it’s up to each of us to “call out to Him” and state specifically what we would like Him to do.  In the days of Bartimaeus Jesus walked past many, many people whose needs were left unsatisfied. Why? They simply let Jesus pass by without calling out to Him, without spelling out what they needed from Him.

Friends, although the story of blind Bartimaeus is simply told, a powerful, essential lesson can be easily overlooked. Yes, we were created ‘needy’ people whose satisfaction comes from a life-dependency on our all-loving, all-powerful God. We can learn from blind Bartimaeus…Don’t let God pass you by in your daily circumstances. Throughout the day, for the remainder of your earthly life: Be where He is… Call out to Him! Tell Him what you need Him to do, that which you cannot do for yourself. Let Him heal you of your spiritual blindness. Please don’t let the Lord pass you by… “He walks in righteousness, along paths of justice” (Proverbs 8:20.

Best wishes, Bill Joukhadar