But to the tribe of Levi, Moses did not give an inheritance;
the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as He had promised to them.
Joshua 13:33

I first read this passage many, many years ago.  I can’t even tell you when exactly, but it stuck in my mind as important.  At the time it seemed to me that I was reading through a jumble of unfamiliar names of people and places.  This is the inheritance of these sons in these areas and these cities.  And these people get nothing.  And these other tribes get these areas as an inheritance.  Wait… what?  Smashed between what everyone else was getting was this tribe that was dedicated to the Lord for priesthood who was to receive no land. Of course, it doesn’t say that the tribe of Levi got nothing.  It says the Lord is their inheritance.  I like how that promise was specified earlier in Numbers 18:20 even better:

Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance
in their land nor own any portion among them;
I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.”

‘I am your portion and your inheritance.’  I liked that pledge God made to the lineage of priests before I even knew how much personal significance it would acquire and how often it would be recalled into my mind.  The priests weren’t going to have a tangible physical substance of earth to call their own.  They were promised that the living God was their portion.

When we first went into the ministry I began to view that promise selfishly.  After all I watched our salary go to a fourth of what it was previously all in the desire of wanting to serve God and follow His calling!  If I was giving up on some physical comforts then I better have God on my side.  But over time, God deepened my relationship with Him.  The continual process of choosing to release my grip on earthy stuff and to depend upon Him increasingly brought me revelation of His complete Sufficiency.  His fullness in all things, not just my physical needs, but all my needs (love, acceptance, significance, confidence, grace, comfort, peace, strength, wisdom, joy, on and on) can be met by Him and He desires for me to experience His fullness! (Eph 3:14-19)  ‘I am your portion.’  The richness of that promise has expanded into my heart and grown into an intimate whisper of abundant love.

At times I still struggle with thoughts of comparison.  How many vacations are these people going to take?! Our only vacation will be to serve kids at camp.  We drive through the streets of Richardson and the cute little houses still catch my eye.  I just want a small house.  Those people keep upgrading to bigger and bigger houses!  But His whisper comes into my heart.  ‘I am your portion.’  It just isn’t a promise anymore.  I have tasted and experienced His fullness.  I wouldn’t trade that for a thousand vacations or for the cutest house in Texas.   I have chosen this life.  I have repeatedly made the choice to liberate my tangible stuff here on earth, but I have something far greater. On the outside my life might not look like much, but there is another story going on in the inner man. But the absolutely best part of that promise is that it isn’t just for the Levites or for me.  As believers we are the royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). Our spiritual service of worship is to present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God.  (Romans 12:1)  We have that promise.  ‘I am your portion.’ He may not led you to disown your physical stuff, but He does want you to depend upon Him to be filled.  Present yourself to the Lord! There are riches ever yet to be discovered! He is your portion!

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19