We Are Not of This World

Leviticus 25:23-24

Ye are strangers and sojourners with me. God’s plan for the Promised Land was that it would be inextricably tied to a particular family. A tribe was allotted a defined region and within that region each family was assigned a particular piece of land according to the size of the family. Less productive land was assigned more generously. If a man died childless, there were provisions to ensure that his inheritance stayed within the family as much as possible. Within a few limits, what a man did with his land was completely up to him. Yet from this passage we can see that no one but God really owns the land. In fact, no one truly owns anything at all outright. Everything belongs to God and all authority, even that over our own bodies, is only delegated to us from Him. He blesses whom He will bless and He curses whom He will curse.

If you abuse the authority which God has given you, you should not be surprised when He takes it away. We speak in terms of “my” this and “your” that for the sake of simplicity, but in reality nothing is mine and nothing is yours. We are only strangers and pilgrims in our own lands.