Today’s Reading: Joshua 12; Joshua 13; Joshua 14; 1 Corinthians 7
Scripture: Joshua 13:14, 33; Joshua 14:6-14
14 But to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance, since the offerings made by fire to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as he promised them…
33 But to the tribe of Levi, Moses had given no inheritance; the LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he promised them.
Observation: [Today’s reading is tough! Sometimes the reading is rich and filled with great truths. Today is the other end of the spectrum with some awfully dry passages.] However, something did catch my attention. It was what the Levites got. While all the other tribes receive allotments of land, they get none. Their inheritance is listed in verse 14 as the “the offerings made by fire to the LORD”. In other words, they don’t get land, they get meat! This verse makes it seem like they get cheated to me. But there is another mention of the Levite’s inheritance in verse 33: “…the LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance”! Now there’s a great inheritance! That’s a lot better than land. Isn’t it? I pose that question because we do focus on material possessions and property. Even as Christians, we are materialistic people.
Application: Would I be happy to receive no land but only the Lord as my inheritance? I would hope so. But I have to check my heart. I love the Lord and I have followed Him for forty-five years, but I also love the stuff of this life: my house, tools, money, toys, etc. And the truth is that Jesus does call us to be willing to give it all up and follow Him. That is, after all, what being crucified means. “If anyone would be my disciple he must take up his cross daily and follow me.” So I have to be on guard to keep my heart attached to the Lord and cut the attachments to the stuff. We need to think about what things we can do to strengthen the connection to the Lord and weaken the connection to the stuff. The spiritual connection is strengthened by spiritual activity (prayer, scripture reading, fasting, sacrificial giving, serving, sharing). The material connection is weakened by shunning material activity (indulgence, selfishness, hoarding, prideful displays, preening, strutting, scheming). I need to consider the things I give myself to so that I may “lay up treasures in heaven, which are not decayed by moth or rust and where thieves do not break in and steal.” What is my treasure? What is my inheritance? What do I demonstrate to others in these matters? What do my kids think is true of me in this area?
Prayer: Lord, I want to value You above all other things. And I want to live in such a way as others clearly see You as the primary objective of my life. Help me to not be attached to the stuff of this world. I want to use the material things You give me here to advance Your Kingdom and not my own. I thank You that You have given Yourself to Your people as a lasting inheritance. I love You because You have first loved me. I give myself to You because You gave Yourself first to me. May I always live like a man who belongs to God.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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