“The priests will not have any property or possession of land, for I alone am their special possession.” Ezekiel 44:28

In the western world full of abundance, by majority world standards, we possess stuff.  We have capital.  We own our stuff.  We keep the retail world healthy with our purchases.  Even with the command “Do not steal”, it is evident that God is not against personal property.  He is certainly not anti-possessions.  But there is an “anti” in the neighborhood.  It does relate to possessing.  It is when what we possess possesses us that it’s trouble.  You can possess a lot and be free from it possessing you (though, it is harder).  You can possess a little, and be consumed with possessing (though, that is as ironic and it is present). 

Ezekiel envisions the restoration of the Temple and the Levitical priestly order in the last eight chapters of his book.  In chapter 44 he narrows the focus to discuss the priests and provisions for them within the Temple order.  They were not to own any land.  Their sustenance and security would be drawn from the Living God and their service to the Temple.  “I alone am their special possession.”

That term alone in Ezekiel 44:28 is a measure unnerving.  “Alone.”  There is a singularity to it.  I think I, with integrity, could note that God is my special possession.  Of course, He is so because He made me His (Titus 2:14).  But I find that there are competitors among my possessions.  Do I so value the Living God that He stands above and beyond all of my other, even competing, pleasures and possessions? 

Kyle Idleman, in his book Not A Fan, talks about the relatedness to God desired by some in life as a mascot-a quasi-rabbit’s foot in the pocket.  “I mean, it couldn’t hurt.”  But the Living Lord of Glory as alone our special possession is in a whole different category. 

Four men’s hair styles changes ago in the 60’s, when men were using jell in their hair, a company marketing some jell named Brylcreem came forward with their marketing jingle “A Little Dab’ll Do You!”  Who knew that phrase would characterize the depth of value some in church place on knowing Jesus Christ?  Twenty-six years into a new millennium and rather than plummeting the depths of resolve and valuation, we seem to trend toward that little-dab jingle’s cue.  We are more “little dab” than we are Ezekiel’s “alone, He is our special possession.”

We have all known of folks whose possessions came to possess them and drain them of resources and energy and life pursuits.  We all have only limited bandwidth to give to our pursuits.  We need to hand out allegiance carefully and ration investments to leave wide berth for man’s chief end, to enjoy God and glorify Him forever. 

It can be argued that the priests had an advantage. By statute, they were not allowed to possess other things. They were reserved for unique service to God. It helped them sort out their values ahead of time. Their life was a gift, a sacrifice unto the Lord. He alone was their provider, their sustainer. They were not hedging their bets and building side castles for life security, the just-in-cases. They had one singular possession, the Living God. That is all they needed. The same is for us.

When the priests sang, “Christ is all I need,” they were not hedging in their spirits thinking other thoughts about net worth, grown equity, health and vitality, their job, their cars and homes, and their expendable income.  They were thinking (of course, they never sang that chorus) of their one singular source for life and godliness and sustenance, and it was singularly, the Living God!  They were not “in it to win it,” they were in it to serve Him with unique devotion. 

Reading Ezekiel 44 brings me to ask about what is my most valued possession. It asks us what alone is our treasure in life. As Peter described (2 Peter 1:3), we have all that we need for life and godliness in Jesus Christ. Indeed, that is well enough for a conclusion that alone He is our prized possession. So, let’s go ahead and sing, “Christ, is all I need”…like it’s true, and we mean it. One minute after we die, we’ll know how to sing it better than we know now. It will all be so clear. But singing it with such knowledge before we die, puts us in stead to have our Father take great pleasure in what is most important to us…that is, Him!