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.
-Mark 10: 46-52

As the gospel was being read today in church, I had chills running through me. What a cool reading. The story is about a beggar who is blind. Does that sound familiar? I feel like that man a lot. I’m constantly asking God for things blindly. I’m asking for things that I think I want/need, but I’m blind to HIS desires for my heart. No matter, he calls out to Jesus and refers to Him as the ”Son of David.” That is HUGE considering the title ”Son of David” is proclaiming Jesus as who He is – the Savior and Redeemer. Jesus says for the man to come to Him and I love what happens… ”He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.” How many times do we do the same thing? How many times do we toss aside our worldly goods/ideas/schedule immediately? How many times do we spring up, which gives you the vision that Bartimaeus was thrilled to go to Jesus? Wow. But don’t leave me yet… it gets better! Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he wanted. Bartimaeus could’ve asked for anything in the world. He could have asked Jesus for a laundry list of things. Bartimaeus asked for one thing – to see. As a blind beggar, that should be my prayer. I should desire to see the world the way God sees things – see those who are hurting and need some sympathy, see all the good that God has created, see how I can glorify His name throughout the day, see that His plan is better than my own. And the crowning glory of this passage is that Jesus granted the request. Bartimaeus could see. If we ask, then God will give it to us. If we ask for sight (or better yet, Godly insight), then He will grant it to us.

(below is a statue depicting the gospel reading)