Mark 10:46

 Mark 10:46 says, And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. When Jesus and His disciples left Jericho, many people went with them.  We should always be willing to leave where we are and to follow Jesus where He leads us.  One of the people who encountered Jesus was blind Bartimaeus.  Verse forty-seven adds, And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.  Though he was physically blind, he was able to spiritually see that Jesus was the One Who could restore his sight, and He called out to Jesus.  Though we may not be physically blind, until we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we are spiritually blind, and putting our faith in Him is the only way to have our spiritual sight restored.  Though Jesus calls everyone to Him, we must respond to that call for it to do us any good.  Verse forty-eight continues, And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.  The people around Bartimaeus told him to hold his peace or to be quiet.  As Christians, we need to pray that we never attempt to keep certain people from coming to Jesus because we look down on them, as these people evidently did with Bartimaeus.  After all, he was just a blind beggar beside the road, and they evidently felt no need to help him get to Jesus.  Do we feel a need to help the spiritually blind get to Jesus today?  Bartimaeus instead of being quiet, called out even more asking Jesus to have mercy on him, and that is what we need to do today if we would be saved.   We should never let anyone keep up from Jesus Christ.  Verse forty-nine states, And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.  Jesus told Bartimaeus to be of good comfort and called him to come to Him.  Jesus still calls those who are spiritually blind to be of good comfort by coming to Him and accepting Him as their Savior and Lord.  Verse fifty adds, And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.  Bartimaeus got up, threw aside his garment and came to Jesus.  We should be willing to cast aside anything that would hinder us in coming to Jesus.  Verse fifty-one continues, And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he wanted Him to do, and he said he wanted Jesus to restore his sight.  He was looking for a physical healing, but Jesus would give Him so much more.  No matter the reason for our calling out to Jesus Christ, if we accept Him by faith, He offers us everlasting life with Him, which is so much greater than any earthly thing that we might have been looking for.  Veres fifty-two concludes, And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. Jesus told Bartimaeus to go his way that his faith had made him whole.  When we come to Jesus by faith in Him as our Savior and Lord, He makes us spiritually whole and tells us to go on our way and share the gospel with others.  Bartimaeus followed Jesus after he was made whole by his faith, and so must we.