Today’s reading is from Joshua 18-20 and 1 Corinthians 9.
In the passage from Joshua we read that 7 of the tribes have not received their land yet. Joshua doesn’t get it, why are they taking so long. It doesn’t say why there hadn’t claimed the land, but it does tell that Joshua gives instructions on how those 7 tribes need to figure out what land they want and then report back. By the end of chapter 19 all the tribes had their land and Joshua had his land. The only group that did not receive land was the Levites for their work was to serve the Lord.
Jumping to the New Testament reading we read Paul’s thoughts on earning a wage for doing the Lord’s work. We already know that the Levites in our Old Testament passage were taken care of for doing the Lord’s work and because of that they did not own any land. I remember as I was growing up the pastor at my church, First United Methodist Church in Clarion, Iowa, lived in the parsonage. It was the home that the church owned and provided for the pastor and his family to live in. When I started going to my wife’s church, Hus Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I heard someone mention the manse and I wondered what that was so I asked and found out it is the same thing as a parsonage. Both are homes provided by the church for the current pastor and his/her family. I am not sure about the church I grew up in, but Hus has since sold the manse.
Paul reminds us that it is our responsibility to take care of the men and women who are doing the Lord’s work. Just as the Levites received what they needed for the work they did, so should those in ministry today.
I am truly blessed by the congregation that I serve as the director of youth ministries. But with that blessing comes a responsibility not just to the congregation, but to our community and ultimately to God. It is not something to take lightly. I am also blessed to a mentor that holds me accountable as I seek to be a servant of God.
Thank you Lord for the blessings that you have given me. I pray that I am doing your work while constantly improving. Help me to plant the seeds of faith, nurture those you have placed in my care and to be a servant to all. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!
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