And Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. Mark 10:52
We have all heard the stories, most of them no doubt true, of slaves being sold in a market when a kind man comes along and desires to purchase one of the slaves to give him or her liberty. In each case, the slaves, when informed of their liberty, declared their lifelong devotion to their deliverer. We see something of the same in today’s text, as Bartimaeus receives his sight. When told by the Lord to ‘Go thy way’, Bartimaeus recognizes that his way is to follow the Lord Jesus. This is the same way that all believers should recognize.
What is the most important path in our lives? For the Christian, there is only one correct answer to that question: following Jesus. We all have lives to live, and various areas of our lives, including our homes, our careers, our social life, and our Assembly life. And in all these spheres, we have our own ideas and desires. There are things that we want to do and be and have. These things are important to us, but all of them must be measured by whether our pursuit of them falls within the bounds of those two all-important words: following Jesus.
What would Bartimaeus do as he followed Jesus? Undoubtedly, he would take every opportunity to express his thanks. A mentor who was important to me in my early days as a Christian used to urge us to take every opportunity throughout our day to send up to God a prayer of thanks for ever saving us. A thankful follower is a happy follower, and we have to much to be thankful for and happy about. Bartimaeus must also have watched for ways in which he could serve the Lord Jesus; any task, small or great, he was willing to perform. This should be our attitude, too. As our Lord, He deserves our obedience. Bartimaeus must also have delighted to hear the words of the Lord Jesus as He taught along the way. In the same manner, we ought to find our greatest delight in His words, as we read of Him. With his newly received eyesight, Bartimaeus would watch the Lord Jesus, and seek to be and act like Him. What a goal for us as well!
No better or more joyous path can we tread than the way of following Jesus. -Jim MacIntosh