Adopt a Bartimaeus Spirit

Bartimaeus was a poor, blind man who had to beg on the street for money. When he heard that Jesus was coming by, he began to cry out for healing. He was told to be quiet. Let’s stop here for a minute…in your life there will be those who find fault with your faith and how you practice it. They will try to shut you up, but if we are to receive the blessings God has for us, we MUST be persistent.

Bartimaeus cried out again, and Jesus heard him and commanded the blind man to come to Him. The bible says Bartimaeus threw off his cloak and got up. Let’s break again… In my mind, I’m seeing a man sitting, and to throw off his coat BEFORE getting up, it seems it was being used more as blanket than an article of clothing he was wearing. As a poor beggar, it may have been his only means of staying warm, or maybe a way to collect whatever was thrown to him. Could the cloak represent our spiritual strongholds, the very thing that keeps us from receiving our blessing? For Bartimaeus to show his full faith in Jesus, he had to let go of the thing that may have been his life line so he could receive a new life line, the blessing of sight, a means to earn a real living, the blessing of being healed by Jesus Himself.

Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he wanted from Him. Let’s pause again…Jesus doesn’t need to ask us what we need or want, He already knows; but He wants to hear it from us, to activate our faith. Knowing that Jesus knows our thoughts and needs should never stop us from praying and asking for our needs to be met. Bartimaeus answered Him, “Rabbi (Master) that I may receive my sight.” The bible doesn’t say Jesus spit in his eye, or put mud in his eyes, it doesn’t even say He touched him; it just says ‘immediately’ he received his sight then Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well.”

We could all use a little Bartimaeus spirit…to be persistent in our faith, throwing off the ‘cloak’ that binds us to our situation, and submitting to God and His will for our life. Only then can our spiritual blindness be healed.