Left Behind

He is sitting on the small, yellow chair.
A pretend chocolate cake and pretend mixer are in front of him.
He has a gold ribbon tied around his neck.
His eyes look straight ahead, seeing nothing.

He is waiting for my granddaughter to come and get him.
My granddaughter is seventeen months old.
She just spent the weekend with us.
He came, too.

He is a teddy bear.
He was given to her at the hospital when she was newly born.
He was given to her by her mommy’s brother.
He has affectionately been called, Uncle Jimmy Bear.

He is not a bear that she needs to sleep with, though he is a bear she loves.
She placed him on one chair as she sat in the other chair directly across from him.
Apparently, a tea party of sorts was shared.
However, being called away for her own dinner, meant leaving Uncle Jimmy Bear behind.

It wasn’t until everyone left, after a family dinner, that I realized he was left behind.
I sent my son and daughter-in-love a text after they got home.
Uncle Jimmy Bear is still here
He is sitting very nicely in the play kitchen waiting for a cup of tea.

I hoped that my granddaughter wouldn’t miss the bear too much until I saw her again.
The family is all coming home a week from now to spend time together.
Uncle Jimmy Bear will be right where my granddaughter left him.
Sometimes we leave things behind.

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.  “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mark 10:46-52)

Blind Bartimaeus was begging on the side of the road.
He heard that Jesus was coming.
He shouted to Jesus.
Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!

The crowd tried to stop him, but he called all the louder.
Jesus told His disciples to call Bartimaeus.
Immediately, Bartimaeus jumped up and went to Jesus.
As Bartimaeus jumped up, he threw his cloak aside.

That is a detail not to be missed.
Bartimaeus would use his cloak as he was begging to gather the coins people threw to him.
Bartimaeus’ belief in Jesus was so strong, he just knew that Jesus would heal him.
Men who can see do not need a cloak for begging.

There was a woman who came to the well to draw water, in the heat of the day.
She came at that time out of necessity.
The other women in town would not associate with her.
She had many husbands and was living with a man who was not her husband.

Jesus came to the well and asked the woman for a drink.
She remarked that he didn’t have anything with which to draw water.
He asked her to draw Him some water from the well.
Jesus is a Jew and the woman was a Samaritan.

Talking to a woman is problem enough, but talking to a Samaritan woman is worse.
Jesus did not care about all of that.
Jesus wanted to reveal Himself as Messiah to this particular woman.
Upon asking her to call her husband, she said that she did not have a  husband.

Jesus agreed with her.
Jesus told her that she had five husbands and the man she now had was not her husband.
The woman was caught by surprise and talked of Messiah coming and explaining everything.
Jesus answered, I who speaks to you, am He. (John 4)

 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (John 4:28,29)

In her excitement to tell the people in the town about Jesus, the woman left her water jar.
She is a new woman.
The world condemns her.
Jesus told her everything she ever did, yet He left her dignity intact.

We leave things behind when we meet Jesus.
We leave old ways and old habits.
We leave our old way of thinking.
We leave our old perspective on the world.

When we meet Jesus in faith and repentance, we are made new.
We do not need the old ways to which we clung.
We have a new abundant life in Him.
It is better to leave the things that hindered us behind as we follow Him.

When we meet Jesus, when we truly meet Him, we are never the same again.
I look at Uncle Jimmy Bear and smile.
He was left behind.
There is a parable in that.