CAST AWAY YOUR GARMENT

Blind Barthemaus never wanted to be a beggar. For him, begging was a survival mechanism he had to adopt until he finds a better way to survive. You’d agree with me that a beggar with his condition will easily attract sympathy and helpers, which also means he could decide to maintain that lifestyle. Who wants to work when he can just be blind and attract help, right? But that wasn’t Blind Barthemaus, he wanted a more dignifying life, and he’d cast away that survival mechanism at any opportunity. Let’s read his story from scriptures:

Mark 10:
46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

Did you notice that he was on the way side begging when Jesus passed? If he really wanted to continue attracting sympathy from people, he would have prayed that Jesus passes away quickly. But no, he cried out to Jesus for mercy. And when he was told that Jesus had granted him audience, verse 50 said he cast away his garment and rose to meet Jesus. The rest is a miracle.

The moral of this story is simple; I understand that sometimes life happens to us, and we tend to adopt certain habits just to survive. The challenge is, many Christians would prefer to remain with that adopted habit instead of casting it away when a spiritual demand is placed on them from God’s Word. It’s just unfortunate that many Christians just want to survive even though Jesus died to give them abundant life.

Begging to survive or looking for someone to sympathize with your condition erodes you of your Christian dignity, you have to cast away that garment before it destroys you. As a matter of scriptures, I believe it is demonic to settle for begging to live when your Lord sacrificed Himself just so you can prosper.

If you’re the kind of person that resorts to begging when financially challenged, then I charge you to have a change of mentality. The Just shall live by faith. And the last time I checked, begging isn’t an act of faith, it’s actually a statement that clearly says “God is incapable of supplying all your needs”. And that’s not true, it’s just that some of us don’t pass the test of patience required to get God to work. We claim to be waiting on the Lord or trusting God, but the moment the challenge becomes threatening, we resort to begging – which becomes an alternative to our faith in God.

I’m deliberately using the word “we” to establish the fact that even I was once guilty of this. The moment I’m in a fix, I’d go about looking for someone to beg, even unbelievers. Some Christians have gotten so used to begging that they now use emotional blackmail to get at you. They’d say things like, “Please help a brother in need”, “Jesus would have helped me…”. Personally, I don’t fall for such blackmails anymore. If you come to beg me with emotional excuses, I’d either counsel you or ignore you. Now this doesn’t mean that I don’t help people. It just means that I don’t waste resources on people who do not want to mature.

I used to have two Christians families I ran to for every single need I had. And to be honest, they were always so generous. They literally took me as their family. The reception I got from them made me so comfortable that I wasn’t putting pressure on the grace of God to produce in my life. When I ran out of transport fare to go to work, I’d run to them. When I ran out of food stuff, I’d run to them. When I fell ill, I’d run to them. I was working and earning a salary, yet I ran to them for everything.

But one day, I heard that a man who they had been helping long before I came into their lives died and his wife and kids didn’t have anything to fall back to. I was touched, not just because I knew the man personally, but because it was as though God was showing me my potential end if I didn’t take His Word serious. I wept, and then determined to change my ways from that moment.

So yes, I had to first work on a change of mindset. I determined that if God would not supply my needs, then I shouldn’t beg anybody to. I stopped visiting everyone that used to help me each time I begged them for money or food. I stopped calling them. I literally disconnected myself from them. By the time it became obvious to them, that yoke had been broken and my mind had been renewed.

I hope I didn’t make that sound easy, because it wasn’t. Just because I stopped begging didn’t mean that I had enough resources, it just meant that I learnt to be contented with whatever I had. I remember one of those days, all I had in my house was raw rice, onion, and indomie seasoning. I mix them together to prepare a “very delicious” jollof rice. No tomatoes, no pepper, no protein, nothing else. I could have easily asked my neighbour to help me with those things, but I was determined.

It was in the process that I learnt about the principle of giving and receiving. I’ve been hearing the sermons, but it only became clear in my determination and desperation for a change from the Lord. I learnt that the only way out of poverty is to look for ways to give, no matter how little. I also realized that the reason why my situation didn’t change was because I was always looking for who to receive from instead of looking for who to give. You don’t need to look for people to receive from, just give and you shall receive. That’s the law!

Once my mindset had been changed, it became easy to do everything else, including getting a good job, and even build a relationship with God. That’s right! It will be hard for a beggar to build a quality relationship with God. If you know anyone who has, please let me know.

So, cast away that garment! That very habit you adopted when you were suddenly challenged. It’s not a sin to be challenged, but it’s definitely a sin to accept defeat. Arise, and that God for His Word, it will transform your situation in no time.

I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.

Remain ever blessed, in Jesus precious name!

#EmekaAnslem
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