Does God Care Where I Live?, Part 3

Genesis 13:15-18 For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.

There is a powerful and meaningful command God made to Abram here. After pointing out the land that Abram was to receive from God, and promising to make his offspring “as the dust of the earth,” God said this: “Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”

It was apparently ancient custom for a person to finalize the transfer of property by visiting the land. Abraham would be “staking his claim” prophetically by walking up and down the land, even if he didn’t get to see the final possession of it in his lifetime.  This is interesting history, but there is a huge lesson for us here.

The Lord has given us everything for life and godliness (II Peter 1:3), and we are given an untold number of promises in the scriptures, much more than we can detail here. Have you walked up and down the land of these promises, laying claim to them for yourself? Or are they part of a vast landscape that is impressive but unvisited?

The land wasn’t finally Abraham’s until he “walk[ed] through the length and breadth” of it. The promises of God aren’t really ours in practice, aren’t our real possession, until we walk through the length and breadth of them, claiming them as our own, agreeing with God that He has given them to us.

If you are a follower of Jesus, you have a great land of promises before you. You’ll find most of them in the Scriptures. Have you taken possession of the land yet?

Prayer: Lord, thank You, for the Kingdom of God, which you have brought me into. Thank you for the inheritance that comes with being your child. Help me to take possession of what you are giving to me, and not to leave any of it unexplored.