SEEING OUR GOOD INHERITANCE

 SEEING OUR GOOD INHERITANCE

 
Dear Friends,
We can learn some important lessons from Israel’s journey from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. We need to remember how bad our bondage and lost condition really was, and not look back with a deceptive fondness. We need to appreciate the fiery trials of the wilderness journey and realize they were meant to discipline, train, and prepare us for the promised land and to ultimately to do us good. We especially need to realize that the promised land was not just a promise, but also a command. Israel was not given the option of refusing it with impunity. We must avoid the tendency to naïvely expect victory without battle or the despair of expecting battle without victory. 
There will be giants and adversity to face. The land awaiting Israel was not at first a friendly and peaceful paradise to casually stroll into. They had to conquer it. The same is true for us.
We must appreciate our inheritance, realizing it is also and primarily God’s inheritance. The apostle Paul prayed for us “that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened that we might know what is the hope of His calling, what is the riches of the glory of HIS INHERITANCE in the saints (Ephesians 1:18).  
We must keep our spiritual eyes open, be strong for the battle, and enjoy the pleasant land that is our inheritance in the Lord.
---Billy Long

“For he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” 2 Peter 1:9
Look at the three problems noted in the verse above: “Short-sighted,” “blind,” “forgetful.”
These words describe the Christian who fails to grow in spirit and in godly character.
The Christian whose heart hardens will have a distorted view of the past, the present, and the future. He becomes short-sighted in that he fails to see the future rewards and blessings of obedience and the potential consequences of disobedience. He becomes cold in his present walk with the Lord and fails to see the riches of God’s presence and grace available to him now. Regarding the past, he becomes forgetful. He forgets the evil of his sins and the misery of his past bondage. He forgets the goodness and kindness of God that he has experienced.

Numbers 11:5-6.
“So the children of Israel cried out…”We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leaks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”
This verse describes a people who have forgotten the misery of the sin and bondage from whence they came. They have no understanding of God’s discipline, training and preparation intended for their good. They are blind to God’s purpose and they have no vision of the wonderful land to which they are headed.
In the disciplines of the desert the Hebrews were looking back fondly toward Egypt and were ready to return. How short is our memory when controlled by our lower nature and self-centeredness. They had forgotten the pain, agony, affliction, and bondage described in Exodus 1:8-22 where they had suffered slavery and the slaughter of their children. Their memory went back only as far as Exodus 12:31-37, when the Egyptians, in fear of God and desiring relief from the plagues, had showered them with riches in order to get them out of the country. In their temptation and complaint, they were assuming they could return to Egypt and experience the same favor that was poured upon them when they were leaving. They should have known that the friendly disposition of the Egyptians would now have changed to anger and hate. We should know that when we turn our back on God and return to the darkness, Satan’s congenial and friendly welcome back foyer is actually a façade at the entrance of a prison.

Numbers 11:6.
“There is nothing except this manna before our eyes.”
Those who forget how hard and evil was their bondage will also fail to recognize God’s goodness in the land of deliverance. They will forget where they are going. They will despise the blessings of God’s providential care and will be unable to see God’s plan and purpose for their lives. In their hardness of heart Israel lost sight of the miracles they were experiencing every day. They saw only the hardship of the wilderness around them but ceased to “see” and appreciate the faithfulness of God’s love and mercy that never left them, even during their worst behavior. The cloud of God’s glory did not forsake them, the manna was never withheld, and water was faithfully provided (Nehemiah 9:18-21).

Psalm 106:24-25.
“They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His word, but complained in their tents…”
Israel’s behavior in their journey from Egypt to Canaan typifies the tendencies in our walk with the Lord. In the face of the fiery trials of life we should believe God’s word, His promises, His goodness, and His faithfulness. We should be overwhelmingly thankful for the great salvation He has given us. We should lift our eyes and see His accompanying presence that will not forsake those who love and walk with Him. The wilderness landscape sometimes looks harsh and barren, but there is a beautiful “land” before us.

The writer of Hebrews speaks of the promises of God and says, “…having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. BUT NOW they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for HE has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:13-16).  

“The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.”  Psalm 16:6
 
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