He is calling

Ah, the story of the blind beggar Bartimaeus (found in Mark 10:46-52). I remember hearing it when I was little. Today, I was getting caught up on Joyce Meyer shows that I've tivo'd, and she revisited this story. Bartimaeus was a blind beggar, who caught wind of the fact that Jesus was walking past. He began to call out - shout, the Bible says - 'Jesus, Son of David, have pity and mercy on me now!' The crowd around him severely disapproved of his behavior, and told him to be quiet & be still. But Bartimaeus continued shouting out to Jesus for mercy. Jesus hears the man calling out to Him, stops, and sends for the man. Because of his faith, Bartimaeus receives healing that day, and spends the rest of the day accompanying Jesus on the road.

Told just like this, we can learn quite a bit from this story that can be applied to our every-day lives. But today as I was reading this, a small piece of this scripture almost jumped off of the page at me. It was like God just added some special effects to my Bible or something to make those few sentences stand out to me. In verses 49-50, look what happens in this story.

• And Jesus stopped and said, 'Call him.' And they called the blind man, telling him, Take courage! Get up! He is calling you!' And throwing off his outer garment, he leaped up and came to Jesus. (Mark 11:49-50)

Take courage! Get up! He is calling you! And the man jumped up and ran to Jesus.

You know, the life the Bible describes for the Christian is not a passive, wimpy life. It is a bold, aggressive life. The Bible says that when we become Christians, the Spirit of God comes and lives in us. Well, what does that mean? Who is Jesus? We see Him in the Bible as being gentle, patient, sweet, forgiving, caring, humble, and on and on. But we also see Him as a mighty warrior, the King of All Kings! That is not the picture of a passive and wimpy God. He lives boldly. He aggressively seeks to do His father's will.

When we decide to commit our lives to Jesus - to really live for Him - we must be courageous. We must get up and move. We must be willing to live by faith, to step out of the boat. We must jump up and run to Jesus, just as this blind beggar did. This is the spirit of faith that healed Bartimaeus. Not a wimpy, passive spirit that kept him waiting quietly on the road side, hoping to be noticed by the passing savior. If God is calling you - whether it is into a new relationship with Him, or into a new level of relationship with Him - don't be wimpy. Have courage! Get up and go to Him! He is calling you.