Helen Keller was once asked, “Isn’t it terrible to be blind?” She replied, “Better to be blind and see with your heart than to have two good eyes and see nothing.” The Bible speaks of those who are spiritually blind when it says there are people, “whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

You may have 20/20 eyesight and still be spiritually blind. There is blindness far worse than physical blindness. No wonder when Jesus asked him what he wanted he replied, “I want to see” (Mark 10:51). Bartimaeus lived in a blackened world devoid of color and beauty. He had never gazed upon the faces of his own loved ones. He had never seen the roiling flow of a river. He had never seen the sweet innocent face of an infant. He had never seen the beautiful rose gardens for which Jericho was famous. He had never seen the sunrise with His own eyes. Do what Bartimaeus did.īartimaeus wanted to see. Trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior and He will transform your life. Don’t miss your chance to have your life radically changed today! Follow the example of Bartimaeus and trust Jesus Christ to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. He changed Bartimaeus’ life and He wants to change your life. Jesus came to Bartimaeus and He comes to you. Jesus came to Jericho, Bartimaeus’ community, and today He comes to Jacksonville, your community. Bartimaeus didn’t miss his chance for change. Blind Bartimaeus knew it was time for a change and he knew Jesus was the only one who could make it happen. But that is when something wonderful happened! Jesus came to Bartimaeus’ town. He had long since given up hope on being able to change himself. He was a blind man who sat on the side of the road in Jericho, begging for the meager and chance charity of passers-by. In Mark 10 we meet a man named Bartimaeus. He has even allowed you to fail at all your attempts to change your life on your own because He wants you to realize that He is the only one who can truly change you. He has convicted you about all those ugly things in your life that bring pain into your life and into the lives of those you love. He has impressed upon your heart that your life cannot continue as it is without a radical change. God’s Spirit has spoken to your heart and convicted you about your need for a change.

We find ourselves right back in the ditch of sin where we started. You wait and see.” But ultimately our best-intentioned attempts at change are fleeting and unsuccessful. I am going to get my life out of the ditch. I am going to pull myself up by my bootstraps. We say things like, “I am going to turn over a new leaf. We struggle with our addictions, our anger, our fears, our frustrations, our habits, our gambling, our drugs, our attitudes, our relationships, our language, our lusts, our pornography, our secret sins… The list goes on and on.

We look within ourselves and see many things about ourselves that need to change. Amazed, but realizing the possibilities, the old man turned to his son and said, “Boy, go home and get your mamma so I can run her through that thing.”ĭon’t you wish change was that easy? And it is not others that we want to change. A few minutes later the doors opened and a young, attractive woman marched smartly off. He watched as an old, haggard woman hobbled on and the doors closed behind her. For the first time in his life he found himself standing outside an elevator. Series: Meet The Savior Who Was A Servant Sermon: Time For A ChangeĪn old man from the mountains took a trip to the big city.

Time for change