A Life Changing Experience

There are some things in the lives of most people that have been considered life-changing experiences.  There are those who feel as though certain things must occur in order for their lives to change from one status to another.  For example, some people feel if they had more money life would be so much better and that all problems would be resolved.  Many think that a new house would do the trick, a new man, a new woman, a new job, and there are even those who go so far as to attempt to bargain with God by stating “if you give me this I’ll be a better Christian.”

But I stopped by this morning on my way to heaven to say that none of these things are life changing, they are merely changes in life.

For we must realize that money doesn’t change your condition, it may temporarily fix your circumstances. But your condition goes unchanged.  See, if you have the same attitude you had on the last job on the new job nothing has changed but the job.

If the new people you hang around say the same things about you that the old friends you hung around said about you, you just have new friends with the same old problem. 

Your condition has gone unchanged and your circumstances have only been jimmy rigged.  Yes you may feel good for a little while, but in the long run you’ll realize that nothing has changed.

The biggest problem with man is that we are always trying to fix the consequences.  We never review the problem.  We have flunked the fundamentals of biblical mathematics. Me + Jesus=Happiness, Love, Joy, Peace.  Many have placed the wrong variables in the equation.  We seem to have placed everything else where Jesus should be in our lives.

The only way to have a whole life is to experience and have personal contact with Jesus.

Here our text shows us a blind man named Bartimaeus.  If you notice, he is first displayed, and then introduced.  We are shown how he is, and then told who he is. Mark goes from his condition to his name to his father’s name and then only refers to him by his condition.  I like this because it gives an accurate account of what is really important to Christ about us.  He is not concerned with your status, who you are on earth doesn’t matter to him, who your daddy is makes no difference to him.  He is concerned with your condition.  He wants you to be whole. He wants a save you.

Bartimaeus sat by the highway side begging.  When Jesus came to town Bartimaeus knew of him and he knew what Jesus could do for him. No doubt he had heard about Jesus. But he was still blind, poor, and a beggar.  Bartimaeus was not made whole by just knowing of Jesus; his life was not changed until he met Jesus.   I believe that nothing in our lives will be whole until we meet Jesus.  Let me show a couple of things about Bartimaeus:

                He was blind- condition

                He was poor – circumstance

                He was a beggar- circumstance.

His condition influenced his circumstances. He was poor and a beggar because he was blind.  I found out that your eyesight does not have to be physically impaired for you to be blind.  You can be spiritually blind.  You can be in complete darkness as life pertains to Christ and be blind.  Your ego can hinder your insight and make you blind.  Your preoccupation with materialistic value can cause blindness.  And this blindness will ultimately impose difficult circumstances in ones life.  The key though is to change your condition.  Bartimaeus was not trying to change his circumstances he was trying to change his condition.  He wasn’t looking for money. He wanted to see. 

If you want a different output in life you need a different input.  That input is Jesus. You want better circumstances you need a better condition.

There is something else about Bartimaeus we must note:

1. He was persistent in his prayer.

2. He was consistent in his faith.

3. He was resistant to the crowd.

4. He hastened to the command of Jesus.

Jesus told him to come and he came. 

He not only came but he cast away his garment, he rose, and he came to Jesus.