Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha
The blind man who sat by the road begging near
Jericho understood the full import of cashing in on opportunities. He realized
that certain opportunities do not present themselves every day. He therefore
took ample advantage of the opportunity of Jesus passing by him because he knew
that Jesus in His earthly ministry may not likely pass by him a second time. He
therefore utilized the one time life opportunity of meeting with Jesus Christ
to achieve a life time goal of receiving his sight. Significantly, the blind
man was expectant that Jesus would give him back his sight. He also believed
that Jesus had the power and would be willing to restore his sight. If only he
could come near Jesus. Fortunately for him, the great opportunity came as Jesus traveled to Jericho.
But he could hear and so heard the noise of
multitudes moving around him. He asked people around what the noise was all
about and they informed him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. What an
opportunity! Though he could not see, he could shout. Definitely, Jesus could
hear him. So the blind man raised his voice and cried out for mercy to Jesus.
Though people tried to restrain him urging him to be quiet, he shouted the more
to gain Jesus’ attention. Significantly, Jesus granted him audience and his
life time goal was achieved as his sight was restored.
Beloved, the hitherto blind man had little or
nothing at his disposal to deal with the challenge of visual impairment. But
rather than blame anyone or circumstances, he worked at getting out of the
predicament which made him a beggar.
He was observant of changes in his environment – he
noticed unusual high noise levels, many footsteps and people around him through
sounds. He realized they meant changes so he asked questions, in point of fact
very empowering questions and got very empowering answers. He also paid
attention to people – he listened attentively to what they had to say to him
and very wisely processed the information to advantage. Otherwise, how would he
have heard of the miracle working powerful Jesus Who could do all things? Also,
the blind man desperately wanted an encounter with Jesus. He therefore paid
prime attention, listened attentively, was very observant; all of which yielded
full and great dividends. His sight was restored. He was also very determined
to have his needs met by Jesus. So he kept crying out despite being restrained
by the people around him. Beloved, the blind man had heard good things about
Jesus so he knew that Jesus was not a snob who would ignore him. He therefore
kept shouting believing that Jesus would hear him and address his challenge of
visual impairment. He also believed that Jesus could handle his predicament in
spite of the fact that it had been a long standing challenge which deprived him
of the opportunity to fend for himself. Please see Luke Chapter 18 verses 35 to
43.
Is it possible that there are long standing issues
in your life which urgently require redressing by Jesus but you have given up
hope completely because you have heard that nothing can be done about them or
you probably do not have the resources to redress them? Do not despair. Jesus
of Nazareth is not passing by. He is here for you; to take away the shame,
reproach and humiliation of many years away from you so you can live a
fulfilled life in Christ Jesus. He is also here to ensure that your deliverance
is total and permanent.
The woman with the issue of blood had suffered
severally but on the day she cashed in on the opportunity of Jesus’ passing by
enroute to heal the daughter of Jairus, the woman was transformed. The blood
flow of twelve years that had defied medications was stanched immediately.
Please see Luke Chapter 8 verses 41 to 48. She was determined and pushed
through the crowd to touch the hem of his garment. She believed that Jesus
could heal her and that was what she got. She did not spend any money because
she had none left as everything had been taken by the medics who unfortunately
did not solve her problem. But she had hope, she had confidence in Jesus; she
believed he would heal her.
The ten lepers also cashed in on the opportunity of
a divinely arranged encounter with Jesus by asking for mercy. As lepers, they
could not come close to Jesus. But they used their voices and cried out for
mercy. They were healed and restored back to society. Please see Luke Chapter
17 verses 11 to 19.
Quite instructive and significant learning lessons
from these examples is the fact that Jesus was passing by enroute to other
functions and because these people took advantage of the divinely arranged but
what you would probably refer to as chance meetings with Jesus, their lifelong
desires were met despite the challenges they experienced.
Beloved, you can proudly rise up above whatever
challenges you; limits you from decent society by immediately cashing in on the
opportunity of Jesus’ presence today. He is here and specifically so for you if
only you will pay attention to Him; present your needs to Him for Him to meet
them. Shalom.
No comments:
Post a Comment