The Best Real Estate
At the risk of sounding macabre …
So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. Genesis 23: 17-18
There is no secret about my heart for those who are housing insecure … “homeless,” if you will. This fact has occurred to me: Abraham qualified as homeless. For fifty-two years Abraham had not even a square inch of property to call his own. He wandered. The writer of Hebrews says:
For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. Hebrews 11: 10
God had promised him the entire area, but he never had anymore than a burial plot in his possession.
After fifty-two years, he has a problem with his lack of private ownership. He needs to bury the love of his life. Sarah has died. He purchases a field with a cave for her burial and, in the end, for his own bones and those of even generations to come. Then, after those first fifty-two years, he continued for another forty-eight years as a nomad until at age 175 he joins Sarah in the cave. His sole land possession became a burial plot.
What does this story mean for me? For you?
First of all, for me, Abraham’s nomadic lifestyle means I have a place along with Abraham in God’s eternal city, but meanwhile back on earth …
Yes, I have a burial place. The grave marker is there whenever I may pass on if needed between now and the time the Lord returns. But I think I need another burial plot: one where I can bury my selfish things—the things designed to hinder my place with my Lord and Savior. I need a place for daily burial.
The nomadic heart of Abraham to live a wanderer’s existence inspires me to serve the Lord through my efforts to address the plight of the “nomads” in my world. Of course homelessness is not the same as Abraham’s journeys. In contrast to today’s homeless who are destitute of ways and means, his wealth and influence kept him well fed and tented in comfort.
On the other hand, I can use my possessions, not to feed my own greed and “desires of the eyes,” but as a means to help those who need Jesus:
- the homeless
- needs in our back yard—our town
- Bibles smuggled in to places where they are forbidden
- give a baby a place in this world
- provide water for the thirsty
- share God’s love with our Native Americans
- help the gospel go to the ends of the earth
- the ministries on your heart …
No, I have no intention of trying out my plot at the graveyard anytime soon. God has things for me to do this side of “Thy Kingdom come.” Until then, I live in the “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” a means of demonstrating what heaven is like to a world spiraling downward.
Challenge: Join me as I bury in the best real estate what keeps folks like you and me from bringing glory to God
