When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it. (Deut. 26:1)
Expanded Passage: Deuteronomy 26:1
“Welcome aboard!” the receptionist greeted me as I entered the M/V Anastasis, a lovely Italian cruise liner retired to serve as a surgical hospital. Talk about entering a new land! I went from my own cute two-bedroom Oregon home to a shared cabin, featuring a narrow berth and a wee closet. Though not a nurse or doctor, I was answering a call to serve God in Africa.
What an exciting gift that calling was! As a middle school teacher, I served Mercy Ships’ missionary crew children for a year. In 2007 I returned, this time to the refurbished railway ferry, M/V Africa Mercy, to work another twelve years. Even though I was non-medical, being part of such revolutionary medical work was thrilling. While many would delight in the numerous ports I visited, for me the real joy was a different land, the Kingdom of God—fellowship with the hundreds of saints who came from over thirty countries to be Jesus’ hands and feet.
Moses prepared his people for such a remarkable transition. They would enter God’s promised land, the gifted inheritance—just as we did when we took Jesus as our Lord and Savior and were ushered into his kingdom inheritance. Moses spoke of Israel’s calling as a done deal: they would take possession of God’s gift and settle in it. We have the same invitation.
Take possession of God’s kingdom and settle in it.
Kim Robinson is a retired teacher who enjoys working with children’s ministries at her local Wesleyan church right down the street.
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
