Stuff

It has been said that the only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.  I think the same could probably be said of women and girls.  We seem to think that the only way to prove our worth in today’s society is to be worth a lot of money.  While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with money itself, it does seem to become an end rather than a means to some people.  I have heard people say that this is just human nature, but I am not sure.  Think back to your childhood, or if that is a bit too much of a stretch, think about when your children were very young.  Remember watching them sit and play for yours with a feather or a piece of tape?  It wasn’t the quantity or the cost of the toy; it was the imagination that was stimulated by whatever was at hand.

Ezekiel 44

²⁸"As to property, the priests will not have any, for I alone am their inheritance.

Ezekiel had just seen the valley of the dry bones that God had used to illustrate how he was going to breathe new life into His people.  He had seen the coming reunion of Judah and Israel into one nation – under God.  He knew that the enemies of the people would soon be destroyed and that the time was coming when God would bring His people back to the Promised Land.  After all these things had been revealed to Ezekiel, God began to show him in a vision what the new Temple area would look like.  After describing in great detail all the dimensions and all the equipment that would be in this temple, He let Ezekiel see the glory of the Lord once more occupy the Holy of Holies.  He then told Ezekiel to describe this Temple to the people and tell them that the most elemental law of this new Temple would be holiness.

After the Temple was fully described, God told Ezekiel how he would choose those who would serve in His house.  Only those who had remained true to the Mosaic laws concerning the office of the priest would be allowed to serve in the new Temple.  Those who had allowed themselves to be corrupted by the influence of foreign gods would not be allowed to come into His presence, regardless of their family heritage.  Those serving in the new Temple would be as holy as the temple itself.

In this passage, as God is preparing to tell Ezekiel how the land would be distributed among the returning people, He made a statement about the earthly possessions of His priests.  God told Ezekiel that His priests would have no property – none of the symbols of wealth that people look at.  Nothing that could be accumulated as an inheritance to be left to their children.  “I alone am their inheritance,” God said.  He was all that the priests would have and all that they would leave when He called them home.

The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 2:9 -
”But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”  All of those who follow Jesus Christ are priests.  As such, our inheritance is not anything that can be accumulated on this earth; it is God, our Heavenly Father.  No matter what stuff we gather to ourselves, it is not really ours.  It came from the Father and it is to be used to bring glory and honor to Him and Him alone.

If we allow ourselves to get wrapped up in the stuff of this world, we are practicing the very thing that sent God’s people into captivity in the Old Testament.  We are worshiping a false god.  God wants what is good for His people (Jeremiah 29:11).  However, if we are not careful, the very things that He gives us that are good can become our god.  We must look at everything we have as an investment that God has made in our ministry – and spend it accordingly.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!