Who doesn’t love to travel, see new places, experience new things? For me try all the new cuisines! But to do that we need to have a passport, a document that tells authorities exactly who you are, you wouldn’t be able to travel without this very important identification.
Way back in Mark 10, we see just how important identification was. Imagine the scene, Blind Bartimaeus was sitting at the side of the road, begging, when Jesus passed by; “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.” Throwing his cloak aside? Why did Mark even mention this cloak? Was it important? You see, the Roman government issued identification to the blind man, giving them the legal right to beg. A cloak was given, an identity allotted. Bartimaeus wore that cloak which announced to the world, I am blind, this is who I am.
When Bartimaeus heard Jesus coming, he threw aside that cloak, his old identity. 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗱, 𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲. He knew that today was the day that he would be changed forever, he would be able to see!
How like Bartimaeus we can be. Wearing the cloak that the world has given us, perhaps a cloak of shame, anxiety, doubt, fear, or failure. That cloak can become our identity. Bartimaeus knew that only Jesus could change his identity and he was ready! He was ready for a new identity, one that could see, one that knew Jesus could exchange failure, fear, and frailty for courage, love, and peace.
I often wonder what happened to Sharp Sighted Bartimaeus, one thing I know for sure is he never picked that cloak up again, Mark tells us, “𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅.” No time to turn back. I want to be like Bartimaeus, throw away my old identity, the one the world has placed on my shoulder and take on the identity of Christ. Healed. Loved. Forgiven. Child of God. 
Claire's Prayer 