Then they came to Jericho. And later, as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a beggar who was blind named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they called the man who was blind, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” And throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. And replying to him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the man who was blind said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.

When we approach someone to ask them for something there is often a way that we tend to present ourselves with our best foot forward. We may dress up, start with compliments, or build our case to get the answer we are looking for. When this man heard the voice of Jesus, He recognized His need and brought it to Jesus with reckless abandon. Even in the face of opposition, the cry did not grow quiet or start with a more civilized approach, he simply brought his need before Jesus and asking for His help.

Sometimes we approach asking the Lord for help in a similar way we as for help from people. We try to build our case, take care of most of the situation on our own, and dress up our needs before we present them to Him. The passage today gives us not only hope but also a calling to come to Jesus unhindered like this man. We don’t have to dress up our prayer with flowery language or build our case like we are standing in a court room. The way we come doesn’t have to be perfect and manicured but authentic. You can come to the Lord just as you are. We need to be honest with Him about where we are at, what we are struggling with and cry out like this blind man “Have mercy on me!” when we are wrestling with the sin in our hearts. He who holds the stars in the sky also hears your voice when you are calling out to Him. He is ready to guide us and lead us in His life when we come to Him.

• What would it look like to come to God with reckless abandon like the man in this passage?
• What are ways you have tried to do better on your own before coming to God? What happened?
• Pray and ask God to help followers of Christ everywhere to come to Him with authenticity and reckless abandon.