Inheritance Day 8
I Am His

Ephesians 1:15-23
Deuteronomy 32:4-9
Isaiah 43:1-7
Ezekiel 37:24-28  

I have a love/hate relationship with celebrations involving gifts. I love the celebrating and have so much fun planning parties, cakes, shopping for decorations, and learning exactly what will make each person feel loved and special. I live for that “ah ha!” moment of pure pleasure when the receiver opens a well planned for gift. I consider it a bonus if the recipient tears up and I feel like I won the World Series if tears are actually flowing.
But for a girl who puts a lot of self-imposed pressure on gifts, I’m floored when I have to buy for someone I either don’t know very well, or worse, I know extremely well, but they have everything!

My husband’s birthday is right next to Memorial Day weekend most years, and of course, Father’s Day is just a couple weeks after that. And then Christmas! Oh the pressure!!!
The Christmas tree is barely put away when I’m already looking for ideas on how to love on him in May and June. I’ve tried it all, sisters. From the super manly toolboxes, tools, and even swords, to the relational date coupons, massage lotion, or card games, to the playful remote control toys and stunt kites, and the romantic with overnight getaways. You know which one got the best reaction? Tea. He liked one specific kind and couldn’t find it in Kansas City. I talked to store managers all over the country to track it down and ended up having a case shipped to him straight from their headquarters. It meant so much because it told him that I knew him, I loved him, I wanted him, and, it was something he couldn’t get himself. Just buying a bottle of New Leaf tea would be satisfying, but having his wife know what he liked and search all over to find it for him, that’s something he couldn’t order from Amazon.

God is much the same way when it comes to receiving a gift.
He’s Lord of creation, Author of humanity, the God who hung the stars and spins the planets; everything is His, except for one thing, human souls.
Those are ours.
True, they were given by Him, but given at the cost that we may decide to spend what we’ve been given on ourselves rather than put it safely back in the Author’s hands in order to enjoy mutual delight.
The most precious of all creations, the pinnacle of our existence, the very best of God’s handiwork worth incomprehensibly more than everything else in all creation, and God turned it over to us entirely.

I was young, probably 7 or 8, and it was a simple thing: a kitchen spoon rest.
It was glass, exquisitely hand painted, and it had been my grandmother’s, but now it had been handed down to my mom.
And I broke it.

I saw my mom’s disappointment when she found out. I knew it had been important to her, and now there it was, in too many pieces to count, in the trash. Guilt washed over me and sat churning in the pit of my stomach. My mom didn’t yell or get upset, but I do remember her sad face and teary eyes as she cleaned up the mess.

Later when she left for work, I scoured through the trash, carefully picking up every shard, wrapping them in a towel and hiding it in my closet until I could think of a way to glue it back together.
Weeks went by and I forgot about it completely until my mom was cleaning out my closet. I can still hear her voice as she asked me what it was. I trembled with sad regret as I recalled the emotions of that day, “I saved it because I wanted to fix it and give it back to you and then I couldn’t find any glue and I didn’t have any money…” I rambled on as my voice dropped. Again with tears, but I’m pretty sure they were from a different emotional source. She hugged me and told me I was much more precious than an old spoon rest.

So the Father God tenderly creates our souls, filling it with all good things that He knows we will delight in.
Pleasure in running, cooking, working with our hands, making music, and crafting.
Fulfillment when we love others, delight when we watch another’s eyes come alive with joy, tenderness, a welcoming spirit, a compassionate heart, encouragement, generosity, and all manner of other abilities and gifts.
The loving Abba crafted each soul, designed us uniquely, making a space in each of us to long for a relationship with Him, and then relinquished His invaluable creations entirely to us as souls.
And too often, we break and abuse them, just like I did with my mother’s spoon rest.

The Lord who has everything?
He wants one thing.
He wants us.
You. He wants you.

We are His rich inheritance.

And oh the delight when we turn our souls over to Him! Rather than a loss we are giving up, it’s a fullness we find! Like running through an endless meadow of soft, luscious grass and daisies blowing in the tickling breeze, with laughter effortlessly flowing from our lips. So is our soul when we give it to our Maker.

Free.
No fear, no regrets, no judgment for all the ways we’ve abused His inheritance before now, just sheer delight.

Our true love.
Our soul’s solitary soul mate.
Found.
Completed.
Rejoiced over,
by giving the Lord of all, His Inheritance.

Curious as to how one goes about giving the Lord His inheritance of you? Email us!

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