He Is Never Too Busy

Verse of the day: Mark 10:49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”

In the Book of Matthew there is a similar account of Jesus’ encounter with two blind men. Here, Mark focuses on Blind Bartimaeus more specifically. In both accounts there are a few things that stand out. First, how those that were following Jesus responded to the blind men’s cries; they rebuked them. It is a sad thing when those of us who know Jesus, and are following Him, neglect those around us that have a desperate need to know the Savior. We encounter people every day that are poor and blind; although they may possess all the riches of this world, if they are without Jesus they are poor. Regardless of how much knowledge they have, how many degrees they possess or how of this world’s wisdom they possess, if they do not know who Christ is or are ignorant of the Word of God, though they may have their physical eyesight to see and understand the philosophies of this world, they are blind (2 Cor 4:4). In some cases we may even encounter people who are truly poor and blind; both destitute in the things of this world and blind to the spiritual truths of God. These are all the people, who we encounter every day, which we need to stop and reach (Mk 16:15). However, like the people going through Jericho, we get so focused and so busy with our own plans, and in our own "hurriedness" to go “nowhere fast”, we ignore and even become annoyed by those that we need to stop and speak to most. Too often we act as if, just because we are too busy, that Jesus is too busy to meet the needs of those around us. The fact of the matter is that if we stopped and took a genuine interest in the people we know and meet, we may discover a Bartimaeus in our midst. We will find that there are those around us who are seeking, and may very well not know that the One they are seeking is Jesus. We see, secondly, in both accounts that the more the crowd rebuked the blind men, the more they cried out to Jesus. There are people today, that when they hear the good news of what Jesus has done,  who will accept the invitation to call upon Jesus, but in order for them to get to that point they need to first know that Jesus is calling to them from us (Rm 10:14). However, know that our enemies will create all kinds of distractions and interruptions to keep us from sharing the Gospel. It will take perseverance on our part in not allowing those interruptions to hinder our opportunities to share Jesus. Thirdly, we see that once Bartimaeus is acknowledged by Jesus, he casts his outer garment aside in order that nothing stop him from reaching the Lord. Bartimaeus immediately responds, in spite of his being blind, and makes sure to remove from his life the one thing that might hinder him most, his outer garment. Even those of us who know the Lord can learn something from this blind man who had enough insight to cast away what had the potential to trip him up. There are those times in our lives when we allow so many things to keep us from growing in our relationship with Jesus and following Him; the busyness of life. We get focused on making money, gaining status, and going after material things, chasing hobbies (just to name a few), and even make other relationships a priority. The end result is that these things become the “outer garments” in our lives that trip us up in our relationship with the Lord. In all of what took place, the one thing that stood out most was that, unlike everyone else, Jesus did not see stopping and being still, in order to call Bartimaeus and the other blind man to Himself, a hindrance or interruption in His day or His ultimate plan. Instead, He had compassion on them, and when they responded to His call He gave them what they needed. Jesus’ desire is that we come to Him, first for salvation, and thereafter to know Him and follow Him. In verse 52 it tells us that Jesus sent Bartimaeus on his way, but instead he chose to follow Jesus. Knowing all that we have gained in Christ (far more than any of us deserve), should we not also cast aside all those things that weigh us down, and hinder our ability to follow Him? What has been keeping you from following Him? Know that He cares and is standing still, calling, and waiting for us to remove those things that so easily beset us and hinder us from effectively following Him (Heb 12:1). Jesus is never too busy to hear our prayers and meet our needs. He is certainly never too busy to stop and guide us in our obedient attempts to lead others to Him.

Just like Jesus stood still and called us to Him, He wants us to now give others that same opportunity. God promised that if we believe and call upon His Son, Jesus, for eternal life, He will save us and we will spend eternity with Him (Rom 6:23; 10:13). Repent, confess your sins, and be saved. Receive Him and His free gift of salvation today.