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??You and I know what it's like to get out of bed in the dark night, and try to go across the room without knocking over furniture, or stubbing our toe on something.
??Why do we have to be so careful？Because we can't see!
??The man in our Bible lesson today lived like that all the time. Poor Bartimaeus was blind. When someone cried out, "Look at that beautiful rainbow!" Bartimaeus could only wonder what was so exciting about a rainbow. He never knew what colors were like, never got to look into the eyes of a loving mother. To Bartimaeus the world was always dark as night.
??Almost every morning Bartimaeus would probably pick up his walking stick to help him find his way to the Jericho city gate. As he walked, perhaps he smelled the sweet scent of the many roses that grew in Jericho, and heard the wind swishing through the many palm trees, but how sad that he could never see them. Imagine the ragged little blind beggar carefully sensing his way to his place by the city gate. There he would sit all day, holding out his beggar's cup to any who passed in and out of the city. Do you think Bartimaeus enjoyed begging？No, but in those days there was no special school or program for blind people, and Bartimaeus had no other way to make a living.
??Perhaps most people passed right on by Bartimaeus without a word. He was thankful that at times friendly people would stop and tell him the news. Those people were like his newspaper! One day his friends had some very exciting news to tell."Bartimaeus, have you heard about Jesus of Nazareth and all the miracles He has been doing？"
??Bartimaeus listened with great interest."Everyone is trying to decide who this Jesus really is, " his friends went on."Some think he is a prophet of God, others say He is the Messiah, the Savior God promised to send."
??Then Bartimaeus friends began to tell about the miracles of Jesus.All the people of Judea and Galilee are talking about Jesus, and all the wonderful things He says and does!
??He teaches about God and Heaven, and He fed over 5, 000 people with just a little boy's lunch. Why He even made the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk, and Bartimaeus! Jesus even made a blind man to see!"
??"A blind man to see？" Oh, if only that could have been me!" Bartimaeus probably sighed with longing. If only, if only this Jesus would come to Jericho! No doubt during the days ahead, people talked much about Jesus. And no doubt Bartimaeus spent a lot of time thinking about Him, and how if Jesus were here, He could take care of the biggest problem in Bartimaeus' life.
??But was blindness really the biggest problem in Bartimaeus' life？No, the darkness in Bartimaeus' heart was a bigger problem than the darkness caused by his blindness. You and I, and everyone who has ever been born, have that same problem in our hearts. God says sin is like being in darkness. Sin is anything that does not please God. Have you ever accused someone of doing something they did not do？That is sin.
??And what about the times you have been jealous of others when they made a better grade, or when you acted like you were better than someone whose clothes or house were not as nice as yours？God calls those things sin, and He says we have all sinned. God speaks of sin as being in darkness, and His Word tells us there is an awful, forever punishment for sin. That punishment is being away from God our Creator in a terrible place of eternal darkness called hell. But the wonderful news Bartimaeus did not know was that God loved him so much! No matter that he was a blind beggar, God loved him! And no matter what you are, boys and girls, God loves you too! He is your Creator, perfect in all His ways, and perfect in His love for you! God's love caused Him to send His precious only Son into the world to take care of your biggest problem. Jesus Christ, that precious Son, willingly came to the world, even though He knew wicked men would hate Him, and put Him to death on a cross. Revelation 1：5 is one of my favorite verses. It says, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, "
??After Jesus died, He was buried, but by God's wonderful power, He came alive again in 3 days. Now He is in Heaven, and when you believe in Him, He takes away that darkness of sin. For those who don't believe in the Lord Jesus, there remains a forever punishment for sin in that terrible place of darkness and suffering called hell. Can you see why blindness was not really Bartimaeus' biggest problem？??But Bartimaeus thought it was. How he must have wished that Jesus would one day come to Jericho. The days and weeks passed. Then Bartimaeus realized it was Springtime because it was warmer weather, and because the number of people traveling by him was increasing. Yes, it was time for the Passover feast in Jerusalem, and whole families journeyed together in happy conversation.
??Jesus and His disciples were going to the Passover also, which meant they were traveling right through Jericho! Although he couldn't see, Bartimaeus knew something unusual was happening, for never before had he heard such a big and noisy crowd of people coming through the gates of the city! Confused and excited, he asked, "Please, someone tell me, what's going on here？" Someone called out the incredible news："Jesus of Nazareth is passing by!"
??Oh! The chance of a lifetime, and the desperate little beggar knew he must not miss it! With all his might he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on me!" Do you know why Bartimaeus called Jesus the Son of David？Bartimaeus believed that Jesus was the One God promised to send, the Messiah, and God said that the Messiah would be the Son of David. Bartimaeus was showing he believed in Jesus with all his heart!
??But some of the people angrily told him to hush, because they didn't believe in Jesus! Oh, yes, they were following Jesus, just out of curiosity to see what marvelous thing He would do or say, but their hearts were still dark with the sin of unbelief. They did not want to hear anyone call Jesus the Son of David, the One God promised to send.
??Even those angry voices telling him to hush could not stop Bartimaeus! The Bible says he cried out even louder, "Son of David! have mercy on me!" The loving ears of our dear Savior heard that pitiful cry. Suddenly the Lord Jesus Himself stopped the parade of people, and commanded that Bartimaeus be brought to Him! Men went to help the ragged beggar up and led him to Jesus. Bartimaeus must have trembled to know that he was standing in the actual presence of this Jesus of Whom he had heard so much.
??"What do you want Me to do for you？" Jesus gently asked."Lord, that I may receive my sight, " Bartimaeus answered. Then Jesus Who is God the Son, and has all power to heal and help us, said, "Receive your sight, your faith has saved you."
??Immediately the darkness was gone! Sunlight, colors, faces, Bartimaeus could see them all!! The most wonderful thing Bartimaeus could see was the loving face of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God! The crowds of people must've reacted with shouts of joy, at least those who loved and believed in the Lord Jesus.
??What a marvelous thing that this dear man could now have his sight! But the most marvelous thing was what happened on the inside of Bartimaeus. Jesus had said, "Your faith has saved you." Jesus knew that Bartimaeus had believed on the Lord Jesus. Because he believed on the Lord Jesus, Bartimaeus was saved from the darkness of sin on the inside! No one could see that, but it was the most important thing that happened. Being saved from sin means we become God's child, and will one day go to be with Jesus in Heaven forever.
??What do you think Bartimaeus did after He could see？Let's find out in Luke 18：43："And Bartimaeus followed Jesus, glorifying God：and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God."
??We all love happy endings, don't we？If you have believed on the Lord Jesus already,
??then you are like Bartimaeus! And the happy ending is that you will get to meet Bartimaeus one day in Heaven! If you have believed on the Lord Jesus, Jesus has saved you from that darkness of sin on the inside, and He wants you to go and tell others that He is the Light of the world! Why not write down the message from ？How to be a Child of God？and share it with someone TODAY？There are many, many people around you who are like Bartimaeus on the inside. Will you love them enough to tell them how they can be saved from the darkness of sin？??If you have never believed on the Lord Jesus, you are still in the darkness of sin. But you don't have to wait, like Bartimaeus, for the Lord Jesus to come your way. Romans 10：13 says, "For whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Will you go right now to ？How to be a Child of God？and see how you can call on the Lord Jesus to save you from that darkness of sin, and make you His child forever？"
