Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Aug 29, 2008 0:01:50 GMT -5
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance (Psalm 16:6).
My 87-year-old mother lives with me, and I have to give her credit today for this devotional. She was doing her own Bible study yesterday morning and shared with me that it was based on the above verse from the Psalms and how that verse was taking her back in her memory to various points in her life. Because her mother died when she was eight and her father was unable to care for her, she was sent to live with her grandparents. At the time—and for many years thereafter—she thought she was one of the most misfortunate people on the face of the earth. All she could think of was all she had lost and how she didn’t have a “real family” like most of her friends did.
Now, however, looking back over the nearly eight decades since her mother died, she sees the faithfulness of God and His blessings and care throughout all those years. She said she realizes now that she had so much to be thankful for, but she often missed it because she was too busy counting and mourning her losses.
Isn’t that just like us? Don’t we all often do the same thing? Instead of focusing on the many blessings God has given us, we bemoan the things we have lost or missed in life. And yet, doesn’t the Word of God say that “the [boundary] lines have fallen” to us in “pleasant places” and that we have a “good inheritance”? Despite the realities of heartache and hardship, trials and tribulations, God calls us “joint heirs” with Christ. Can there be any greater inheritance, any more joyful reason to be grateful?
Whatever we are facing today, may we open our eyes (and hearts!) to the “pleasant places” and “good inheritance” God has bestowed upon us, and CHOOSE to be grateful people for the many undeserved blessings that have come our way as His beloved children. And one day, when we approach the end of our earthly sojourn, may we too declare that the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places!
© KATHI MACIAS
www.kathimacias.com
Yes, I have a good inheritance (Psalm 16:6).
My 87-year-old mother lives with me, and I have to give her credit today for this devotional. She was doing her own Bible study yesterday morning and shared with me that it was based on the above verse from the Psalms and how that verse was taking her back in her memory to various points in her life. Because her mother died when she was eight and her father was unable to care for her, she was sent to live with her grandparents. At the time—and for many years thereafter—she thought she was one of the most misfortunate people on the face of the earth. All she could think of was all she had lost and how she didn’t have a “real family” like most of her friends did.
Now, however, looking back over the nearly eight decades since her mother died, she sees the faithfulness of God and His blessings and care throughout all those years. She said she realizes now that she had so much to be thankful for, but she often missed it because she was too busy counting and mourning her losses.
Isn’t that just like us? Don’t we all often do the same thing? Instead of focusing on the many blessings God has given us, we bemoan the things we have lost or missed in life. And yet, doesn’t the Word of God say that “the [boundary] lines have fallen” to us in “pleasant places” and that we have a “good inheritance”? Despite the realities of heartache and hardship, trials and tribulations, God calls us “joint heirs” with Christ. Can there be any greater inheritance, any more joyful reason to be grateful?
Whatever we are facing today, may we open our eyes (and hearts!) to the “pleasant places” and “good inheritance” God has bestowed upon us, and CHOOSE to be grateful people for the many undeserved blessings that have come our way as His beloved children. And one day, when we approach the end of our earthly sojourn, may we too declare that the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places!
© KATHI MACIAS
www.kathimacias.com