Inheritance

Have you ever considered the ideas of an inheritance? Someone else has worked hard, and you, the benefactor, reap the rewards. Perhaps you have received an inheritance in the past. A parent or grandparent, great aunt, or not-so-great aunt might have passed on and left you an inheritance, - money, a house, jewelry, even a pet. You received a blessing because of their hard work, discipline and ultimately their generosity. Or perhaps, you have been "cheated" out of an inheritance you feel you rightly deserved. My friend, Mary, told me a story of her crotchety uncle who died and willed tens of thousands of dollars to an organization, and little to his wife and children.

Recently, I've been reading the book of Joshua. The Israelites finally came in to the Promised Land, and received the inheritance of their ancestors. Now if you remember, their ancestors had not been allowed to enter the Promised Land and had to wander in the desert for 40 years. But the day came at last when Joshua took them and distributed the land to each of the tribes.

And so the story goes that Joshua dibbies out the land as Moses had assigned, and gives some to the tribe of Judah, Manasseh, Reuben, and on and on. But we get to Joshua 13: 33 and see something interesting, - the tribe of Levi doesn't get an assigned section of land. Unfair? Cheated out of an inheritance? Not at all! The text says, "But Moses gave no land to the tribe of Levi, for the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised to be their inheritance."
Hello! God himself as an inheritance? Suddenly, the hills and streams bequeathed to the other tribes suddenly seem to pale in comparison to the gift the tribe of Levi received!

Hmmm? Perhaps things aren't really as great as we think they are.
Max Lucado wrote in It's Not About Me "When our deepest desire is not the things of God, or a favor from God, but God himself, we cross a threshold." When I first read this, it really stunned me. I wrote it on a piece of stationary and taped it to my door as a daily reminder of what I really need to be focused on. Not a thing, or even a favor from God, but God himself! Phew! That's even tough to imagine!