January 13, 2025
Passage Read: Deuteronomy 16-19
Meditation Verses: 18:1-2
Thought
The whole nation of Israel inherited land and houses when they came to Canaan. They gave themselves to their crops and herds, to build up their material wealth. But the priests and Levites, they were given houses and cities and some pasture land, but not like the rest of the Israelites. Their inheritance wasn't to be land and herds and crops, but the Lord Himself and the gifts of the Israelites. All the other tribes were to work for their own benefit and for the support and supply of the priests and Levites, while the priests and Levites gave themselves to serve and know and teach about the Lord. Did they understand the privileged position they had been given or did they wish for the independence that the other Israelites enjoyed? Did they recognize what a privilege it was to serve the Lord and know Him and share in the rest of the people's devotion to Him, or did they envy the freedom the rest of the tribes had just to focus on their own things?
Application
This dichotomy remains today. There are those who inherit lands and houses and fields and jobs, and there are those set apart to serve the Lord and teach His people. They get to devote themselves to knowing God, with few other distractions or responsibilities. And their own livelihood is tied directly to their diligence to teach the people to love the Lord. There is a built-in incentive to teach the people well, so that they will offer gifts to the Lord, walk in obedience, enjoy His favor and blessing, so that they will have an abundance to share with them. But do the spiritual leaders understand their privileged position, or do they envy those who can multiply their material wealth by their own diligence? Do those who "work for a living" understand the honor bestowed on the full-time servants of God, or do they see them as burdens and beggars, but good for most people? Either way, we misunderstand the importance of God in our society. Even I have become tired of living on support, even though I had everything I needed and more at the time. Now that I want to provide for myself, now I struggle to make ends meet. It is a great honor to be set apart to serve the Lord, and all people should agree, but we're so easily deceived into thinking material wealth and a material inheritance is better than spiritual wealth and inheritance. I need to purify my thinking.