Reflection for Today ▶️ ⏩ ⏹️
...that which we own is seen for the dust that it once was, and to which it will return. Oklahoma dust bowl, 1939, photograph courtesy of USDA/Wikimedia Commons
These are the countries which Moses did distribute for inheritance in the plains of Moab, on the other side Jordan, by Jericho, eastward. But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them. / But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance
— Joshua 13:32-33,18:7a
After decades of bloody battles, Joshua is now old, and it is time to divide the land between the twelve tribes. Chapter after chapter describes this land distribution, each tribe receiving their fair share. Except the tribe of Levi. God has set the Levites aside as a priestly sect. Their inheritance is God Himself. Mentioned not much more than in passing two or three times over the ten chapters of tribal distribution, the significance of this agreement is easily overlooked. Of the twelve tribes the Levites are God's chosen representatives, and as such they shall be landless. The closer we are to God the less material wealth we need. The Spirit itself is our inheritance.
From my own experience I know that as my faith grows so my desire for worldly things diminishes. It is not that I don't want basic comforts (even the Levites had cities in which to live1) but the need for additional possessions lessens, and that which I do possess takes on less significance. It may also be an age-related phenomena. Life becomes more ethereal as we age, and thus that which we own is seen for the dust that it once was, and to which it will return. All things are transitory; life is vague wonderment tainted with madness, unstable, unpredictable and chaotic. Only God holds steady amidst the turmoil.
1 Joshua 20:1-21:42