And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain
blind man sat by the way side begging: And hearing the multitude pass
by, he asked what it meant. Luke 18:35-36
He could not see, but he could hear. That means that he still had some
sense. We are supposed to have five: taste, touch, hearing, seeing, and
smell. Once I had no sense for spiritual things. Bartimaeus could not
see, but he could hear. God always works with what we have, not with
what we don’t have. God wants us to come to our senses. Long before we
could “taste” and see that He is good, He was good to us. When we were
without any feeling for God or the things of God, He touched us, but we
never knew it because we were dull. We were as blind as a bat or were
satisfied with shadows. Then one day we began to come to our senses. We
heard. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”
Bartimaeus could not see, but he could hear. That is the way it is when
faith is born. It always “hears” before it “sees.” The Lord Jesus was
coming by. May we not let Him pass without an audience. God has given
us senses that are now sensitive to His presence and purposes. May we
learn today when we hear God’s Word, and ask, like this once poor
beggar, “What does it mean?” Then when we know by faith that it
is Him, that God is passing by, may we like Bartimaeus (Mk.10:52) have
enough sense to follow our Lord Jesus Christ. To follow any other is
simply nonsense.