"I am their inheritance... I am their possession" (Ezekiel 44:28)
In Ezekiel 44 God outlines the charge He is giving His priests, their duties and responsibilities, "And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean" (v.23). He is being very specific that priests must walk in holiness before the Lord.
In this job called ministry the stakes are high. The outcome is souls - won or lost... in communion with God or in eternal damnation without Him. You would think with high stakes like that (and following some of the prosperity teachers out there) that the Lord will be giving His priests (ministers) everything.
"You shall give them no possession in Israel..." (v.28)
Excuse me? Does that really say "NO possession"???
Yes, I did read that correctly. I wondered often why that is. Why not give them a little more security? You know, a retirement plan, sort of? A little on the side to stash up for their children? How about some health insurance too? Constantly being around so many full-time ministers I often see how this is our greatest struggle. Being in ministry often means giving up our security - our "plot of Promised Land" - so we can serve the Lord. The more I thought as to why we are required to give it up - the answer became clearer and clearer.
We must serve the Lord with an UNDIVIDED heart!
In times of trouble, war, turmoil, sickness, despair - we must first take care of the things of God and not our own possessions. And us silly humans - we get so easily attached to "our stuff".
Our "job security" lies in Him and Him alone. For verse 28 does not end with "no possession in Israel". This is how the whole thing reads.
"It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession".
If you are contemplating the life of ministry - you may have to give up your plot... but do not fear - the Lord will take care of His own.
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