Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus for healing (from blindness). As soon as Jesus sent for him, the bible tells us he casted away his garment, rose up and came to Jesus! His garment must have been some type of hindrance that prevented him from getting to Jesus as fast as he wanted to. He therefore threw it away, rose and came to Jesus!
As children of God we have all been called in one way or another:
We have been called into the ministry of intercession (1 Tim. 2:1).
We have been called into the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18).
We have been called to be witnesses to God through the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).
Friends, we need to cast away any and every hindrance. We are told in the following scripture to lay aside every sin that so easily besets us: Hebrews 12:1 – “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
The fact of the matter is that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. We are the “bible” that some people read! Don’t let your life be the one that will so disgust people that they turn away from God. Set a good example and lay aside that sin that so easily besets. We are also told in the book of Matthew that we should cut off WHATEVER makes us sin: Matthew 5:30 – “And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”
Prayer: Father and Lord, help me uproot every tree that you have not planted in my life, make me a worthy book to be read by all.
CFT