"Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God."
~ Leon Bloy
Inheritance
#Biblestudy
Then the LORD said to Aaron: "You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.
~ Numbers 18:20 (NKJV)
O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You maintain my lot.
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance.
~ Psalms 16:5-6 (NKJV)
I love owning land. When I walk through the fruit trees and under our grape arbor—or I am propelled skyward by my children on our tire swing above our land—I feel an attachment to the section of earth we call ours that reaches my soul.
The Old Testament Levite priests had no portion of land allotted to them. When the lines were drawn, they did not receive a piece of ground to call theirs. Theirs was the inheritance of the Lord Himself. For those who did not love the Lord, it must have seemed they came up short when lots were drawn. For those who did love Him, no lot of land could have compensated.
I do not believe in the theology which says that the church has taken Israel's place in history, and falls heir to all promised to her. I believe the children of Jacob will yet receive their full inheritance. The Lord will do exactly as He's said, and will fulfill His everlasting covenant with Israel's twelve tribes.
But in the meantime ...
Forty years after Jesus' crucifixion, temple sacrifices ended with the destruction of Jerusalem. Multiple New Testament references refer to all who are believers in Christ (and therefore anointed by His Spirit) as priests. Now, we are the ones who offer daily sacrifice of ourselves, and minister to the Lord in our worship, praise, and service.
There's no question in my mind that given the choice between owning a portion of the planet, and having the Lord as my portion and inheritance, I'd gladly choose standing in the presence of God, to lay down whatever else is mine in sacrifice.
There is no more pleasant place in the universe. Yes, I have a good inheritance.
Lord God, how is it that You give us Yourself? How is it possible for You to reside within mortal flesh? How do You call prayers a sweet aroma of incense? How can You be pleased in sacrifice of our miserable lives? How is it that You should exalt us as royal priests? We are unworthy of such inheritance. Thank You for grace. Thank You for love.
Contrasting points-of-view, questions and feedback are invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Indeed the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is far too much for me to wrap my head around. I want o have the fullness of everything Christ died to give me and a relationship with the Holy Spirit is one of the most precious things outside of salvation.
ReplyDeleteAbout my fiction, it's contemporary Christian. My character was simply referring to Dathan and Abiram. One day I would love to delve into biblical fiction. I hold the highest esteem for anyone who writes historical.
Is that you in the tire swing? You go girl!
ReplyDeleteOh Anne, how can we comprehend that we have been given access such grace? It cannot be fully understood, only embraced. Words fail in expressing proper gratitude.
ReplyDeleteThen there's you on the swing, and God smiles, and I think He might even delight the heavens with a good chuckle at His daughter Anne, an intrepid hot tamale of love and energy packed into 5'1 of personhood, who delights in things little and big and isn't too grown up to take a ride on a long-awaited tire swing.
Yep. I still feel Him smiling. :)
Nice thoughts. Yesterday and today... :-)
ReplyDeleteI love that verse from the Psalms, "the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places, yes I have a good inheritance." You did a nice job of explaining it, too.
ReplyDeleteI love this, and I love you. Swing high precious one.
ReplyDeleteYour prayer in particular really spoke to me this morning.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I'm coming to your house/land. :D
~ Wendy
T. Anne, agreed. Jesus was God with us. The relationship with the Spirit is God within us. As long as I live, I'll never get over it. (yes, that's me)
ReplyDeleteGwen, I swear you and I are two sides of the same coin. :D
Russell, thanks for saying so.
Brad, I appreciate the compliment. I so want the Bible to be clear and alive here.
Denise, I figured you'd enjoy this.
Wendy, just say when! And I hope that was the Spirit's prayer.
"There's no question in my mind that given the choice between owning a portion of the planet, and having the Lord as my portion and inheritance, I'd gladly choose standing in the presence of God, to lay down whatever else is mine in sacrifice."
ReplyDeletePerfectly said. Amen and amen. Sweet blessings, Beautiful! Amy
Thank you, Amy. May we never hesitate to make any sacrifice to Him who is our inheritance.
ReplyDelete