NINE WORDS THAT WILL
CHANGE YOUR LIFE Chuck E. Tate
As he positioned himself in a familiar spot on the dusty roadside outside the gates of Jericho— the city of palms— Bartimaeus breathed in the sweet-smelling aroma of dates, palm honey, and balsam groves. The eastern sun poked its head over the horizon, and he knew it wouldn’ t be long before he could barely make out the shadows of scattered crowds as they began dancing in the morning light. Although he was incapable of seeing the sun with his physical eyes, he was used to feeling the warmth its rays produced.
Through a lifetime of listening, Bartimaeus had learned how to measure the size of the crowds by“ seeing” with his ears. And they were rumored to swell to record proportions this very day because Jesus of Nazareth would be making the fifteen-mile trek up from Jerusalem. Like everyone else, Bartimaeus was fixated on Him because of the monumental miracles that seemed to show up everywhere He went.
Bartimaeus must have been physically fatigued and mentally exhausted from the humiliating but necessary act of begging each day just to survive. While this daily routine summed up his existence, I’ m confident he dreamed of what it would be like to see, what it would it be like to have a real job, and what it would be like to have a normal life.
The thought, " There has to be more ", burned through his synapses every single day. But the harsh reality was that being a blind beggar was his life— and it weighed him down like a sack of grain from the marketplace.
Encounter with Jesus
Bartimaeus’ s senses were locked and loaded on the fast-moving crowd. He could feel the excitement in the air and taste the dust kicked in his direction. Jesus was coming.
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