by Kevin Burton
To watch a child with his or her parents in a grocery store is to witness yet another chapter from a long, long story.
What does the child want? Everything.
The parent has in mind limits. A limit to how much sugar a child (or adult) should eat, a budgetary limit of some sort. There may be limits of time or ability to cook this or that or store goods in cabinets.
All these limits go under the general heading of what is good for the family.
If the child has any limits in mind it's just how big the grocery cart is. If there is still room, then everything she sees is fair game.
When the sugar-soaked cereal does not enter the cart, there may be some pouting and complaining.
Well we know that children lack the perspective that experience will bring. But is there not a grown-up version of this pouting about not getting what we want?
A certain job, a certain spouse, a house, a car?
So you're an adult and have graduated from candy by the fistful. But when your metaphorical cart isn't filled just the way you like it, doesn't that cramp your style just a little bit? Isn't there some complaining to your Heavenly Father?
These were my thoughts after a recent Sunday School lesson hit upon Psalm 119: 57, "You are my portion, O Lord; I have said that I would keep Your words."
"My portion" shows up again in one of my memory verses, "Whom do I have in heaven butYou? And with You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever, (Psalm 73:25-26 NASB).
Spoiler alert: in life, we don't always get what we want.
But in life, both physical and spiritual the follower of Christ has everything he or she needs, could ever hope for or dream of.
So whatever it is I am lacking, my red-hot perceived need, is covered in Jesus. Maybe I don't have the clothes that I want, or vacation or car. But God is my portion.
And this is not "oh well, at least I have God." This is not "the bright side." The notion of God as my portion carries with it a satisfaction and contentment
"When a biblical writer says, 'God is my portion,' he means that God is the source of his happiness and blessing. He is content with all that the Lord is and provides. He has the best inheritance imaginable and does not seek any possession or comfort outside of God," reads a passage on the website www.gotquestions.org.
"Riches, honor, friends and fame—nothing is as valuable as the promises of God. If God is our portion, we need nothing else."
You can see this as a question of driver's seat and surrendering to God's will. Who's driving this cart anyway? Is God not infinitely more qualified than an earthly parent in a grocery store to determine what is for the good of His family?
This is not to say we shouldn't strive to better our earthly situations. But it is to say, be content with your portion, which comes from the hand of the Lord.
As a New testament-era believer, this is where my mind went as we talked about God as "my portion." In the Old Testament the word portion speaks mostly to inheritance, the land and goods given to a family or a tribe by God.
"The Hebrew word for 'portion' has to do with a ration or a part of something divided. The New Living Translation renders the Hebrew word for 'portion' as 'inheritance' in Psalm 16:5. The inheritance is a reference to the allotment of land given to Israel when they entered the Promised Land," reads the gotquestions passage.
"A family inheritance was of great importance in Hebrew society. The land was given by God to His children, the people of Israel, and the Mosaic Law specified that a family's portion of land must remain in the family (Numbers 36:7)."
"Inheritance, as used in Scripture, also has a theological significance. The Israelites came to learn that God Himself was the portion or inheritance of His people (Jer. 10:16).
"In the New Testament, the concept of inheritance is prominent as well, being connected with the person and work of Christ. Christ is the heir by virtue of being God the Son (Mark 12:7, Heb. 1:2). Through Christ's redemptive work, believers (both Jews and Gentiles) are children of God by adoption and fellow-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17, Gal. 4-7).
As a guarantee of this 'eternal inheritance' (Heb. 9:15), Christ has given us the Holy Spirit (Eph/ 1:14).
The inheritance includes the kingdom of God with all its blessings (Matt. 25:34), both presently and in the future.
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