Rebekah thought you had to grab God’s blessing or you might miss out. Jacob thought you need to trick and deceive to get it. Isaac thought he could give the blessing to whoever he wanted (Genesis 27).
The disciples thought God’s blessing was just for the important people.The rich young man thought he could get it by keeping the rules (Mark 10).
How do you get God’s blessing? Or to put it another way, how can you be friends with God and know you will be with Him forever?
Rebekah didn’t need to try and grab, and Jacob didn’t need to trick because God had already made his promise that Jacob would have the blessing even though he was the younger (25:23). God’s blessing is totally undeserved and is given to those who will receive by faith. That’s what the disciples didn’t understand when they told people not to bring their children to Jesus. And it’s what the rich young man didn’t understand when he asked what he must do to inherit the kingdom. The rich man was thought that he could do something, but Jesus showed him what his heart was like, he loved money more than God. If the man had come a little earlier, he would have learned that the way into Jesus’ kingdom is not by doing, but by receiving. Just before the rich man turned up, Jesus said that the way into his kingdom was to receive it like a child (v15).
What did he mean? Sometimes people think it means being innocent, but do you really know any innocent children?! What’s the one thing that you don’t need to teach children to say? “No!” And do you need to teach them to snatch?
Well what is Jesus commending in children? Perhaps its their dependence. A little child cannot do anything for themselves, they are totally dependent on others. That’s what Jesus says we need to be like when it comes to the kingdom of God. We cannot earn our way into the kingdom, the only way in is to totally depend on Jesus, specifically his death on our behalf (v33).
The disciples still don’t get it, and they’re arguing about the best seats in the kingdom, but someone who does understand is blind Bartimaeus. He knows he has nothing to offer, and simply cries out to Jesus for mercy. Wonderfully Jesus grants him his sight, and then Bartimaeus becomes a model disciple, following Jesus on the way. On the way to Jerusalem, the pathway of the disciple is the way of the cross, suffering now, glory later. Light and momentary troubles followed by a weight of glory.
We are slow learners! As we read through Genesis, we see the mess God’s people make, and even in Mark’s gospel, we see how slow the disciples are. We so often try and add something to Jesus. But the way to God’s blessing is all about receiving, not grabbing.
As you head to church tomorrow, why not ask the Lord to speak to you and help you to learn to lean fully on Jesus and follow him on the path of dying to self and living for Him?
Light and Momentary Troubles 
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