Exodus 39-40, Matthew 19
Jesus turned the tables on what it means to have an expectation in what faith is about. As you'll read here today, the Jewish people (and we) have made it about a check list and our own expectation of Who God is and what we need to do to come to Him. We make it about what we do and what we need to do, rather than what He has done.
As we wrap up Exodus, we read that the Tabernacle was completed and that God was with the people there. We recall how hopeless the Israelites were at the beginning of Exodus, but how God had delivered them and dwelt among them as they moved about the wilderness. Now, at the completion of the Tabernacle, they can keep God at the forefront of their journey, as they move when He tells them to through the cloud. Through their complaining and sinfulness, God still stuck with them and led them along the path that they were meant to take. It was about what He did for them, no longer what they had to do.
Jesus is continually leading the example of what it means to come to Him. As the little children were brought to Him to be blessed and the disciples tried to turn the parents away, Jesus contradicts them and says to allow the little children to come to Him. The disciples probably pictured Jesus as too busy and too great to care about children, who were to be seen and not heard. But Jesus uses them to make a comparison to who will indeed inherit the Kingdom, as it is those with faith like the children. They simply believe and have awe, without worrying about what they must do.
The Rich Man who approaches Jesus gets a wake-up call as Jesus tells him how to have eternal life. We read that it is not about what we know and how much we know, but where our hearts belong. This man obviously knew the commandments and was ready to check off another part of his list. But when Jesus tells him to sell all of his belonging, he is stuck. Not because he has the stuff, but because he loves his stuff. It is the one thing on earth that he cares about more then Christ.
We can try and try to earn our way to heaven and into God's favoritism, but that isn't how it works. It is about a heart of Christ and allowing Him to essentially "destroy" your ideas of a happy life and happy dreams and allowing Him to show you what He has in store. Giving up our checklists, our hopes, our dreams, our hope for a spouse, our relationships, our jobs, etc. will show us His heart. It is not about what we do, but what He has done! When we allow Him to live and dwell in our lives, we will experience His Kingdom indeed.
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