Deuteronomy 11:31: “For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it.”

February 26th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Moses reminded the people that God was giving them the land but that they still had a responsibility. They had to go in, take the land and live on it, not as absent landholders but as residents making permanent homes there. Notice that the ownership right was secured by what in the American Old West was called a “homesteader’s right to property.” What a clear picture for those of us who are still trying to figure out the path God wants us to follow in our lives.

The believer’s life is not a place to talk about or visit occasionally; it is the kingdom of God and we are to live in it permanently. We must burn all bridges to our old lives. We can’t leave any backdoors. We can’t look back. As Paul instructed the young Timothy—“rightly [divide] the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15), like a man plowing a field—we can’t take our hands off the plow as we try to make another furrow, as straight and deep as humanly possible, in this field of life.

Faithfulness and steadfastness are two qualities of God’s character, a character He is trying to instill in us. It’s the character of the believer who is living in the land, plowing straight lines. The Apostle Paul told Timothy to teach these characteristics to other faithful men (2 Tim. 2:2). The truths of the Kingdom of God are not to be passed down only to the best looking, most intelligent, most highly educated, or most articulate people. No, they are to be given to faithful men and women, who desire to serve God, steadfastly possessing the land He’s given them, right up until the day they see Him face to face.

“LORD, make us people of God who are being conformed into Your image a little bit more this day, we pray.”