God Is My Portion
When Jacob was returning to the land of Israel, he knew he had to confront the sins of his past. He had deceived his brother and lied to his father in order to receive the birthright of the firstborn and the patriarchal blessing. For twenty years Jacob had been living with his uncle in the land of Padan-aram. His deceitful nature had gained him much wealth and fearful of incurring the wrath of his uncle now father-in-law, Laban, he was returning home. Jacob knew he now had to appease the bitterness of his brother, so he prepared a generous gift of cattle, donkeys, sheep and servants. When Esau heard that Jacob was returning and saw the gift he had sent to him, he gathered 400 of his men and rode quickly to meet Jacob and his family.
Jacob was afraid of his brother’s intentions and so he sent all he had, including his family on ahead of himself. On the eve of their meeting, Jacob was alone and had an encounter with God. All night they wrestled; the supplanter against the provider, and, yet, in the end, Jacob received the blessing from God. As morning dawned, Esau approached. Instead of wrath, there was forgiveness and love. Esau felt offended by the gifts Jacob had sent. His love didn’t require a peace offering. He said to Jacob, “I have enough.” (Genesis 33.9) The Hebrew word “enough” here is, rab, which means abundance, plenty and sufficiency. Jacob insisted saying that God had blessed him greatly and that he had “enough”. (v.11) This time the Hebrew word for enough, is the word, kôl, meaning all or everything.
That night with God had changed Jacob’s nature. Instead of trusting in his strength and ability to get by through deceit, he recognized that God was his everything. He recognized that the reason for his survival and blessing was that God was with him. Esau had made it good on his own ability and hard work. He had enough. He was satisfied, but Jacob had it all. God was his everything.
Years later David wrote a verse in the Psalms in which he declares that God is his portion. (Ps. 119.57) What more could you want or need if you have God? Some have their portion in the riches, talents and fame of this life, but is this enough when death comes to their door and they must stand before the Lord? What compares with the wealth we have in God? What else satisfies the longing of our soul? The “enough” of this life stays in this life, but God as our portion, our everything, is eternal.
The tribe of Levi was not given any portion of the land of Israel, when it was divided up among the tribes. This tribe was to be set apart as a priestly tribe. Their portion was the Lord. We, who are in Christ, have received this priestly inheritance. God is our portion. He is our inheritance. The Lord is our everything.
Scriptures to meditate on:
Gen. 33.8-11; Psalms 119.57; I Peter 1.2-5; 2.4-5