SURROUNDED
Today's reading: Joshua 19-21

"The second allotment of land went to the families of the tribe of Simeon. Their inheritance was surrounded by Judah's territory." Joshua 19:1 NLT

Surrounded-to have encircled on all sides; to have constituted part of the environment of; to have extended around the margin or edge of.

I come from a family who has encircled me with their godliness.

I am one of 'those' gals who have a heritage of the Lord built in to my family tree.

And I am so proud, so honored, so humbled, so spurred on by it!

You see I am who I am today because of the faith instilled in my by the lives and words of grandparents and parents.

That's why, I guess, this word 'surrounded' caught my eye.

Smack dab in the middle of Judah's territory, the tribe of Simeon lived.

And that's where I live--dead center of the concentric circles formed by the days of my family.

But read on...

"Their (Simeon) inheritance came from part of what had been given to Judah because Judah's territory was too large for them. So the tribe of Simeon received an inheritance within the territory of Judah." Joshua 19:9 NLT

I believe this to be the case of every godly family--the blessings of God are too large for any of us to handle on our own, or contain or to keep to ourselves.

I am blessed because my grandparents and parents were 'overblessed', one might say.

I will also be allowed to pass on my abundance of blessings to my son. And him to his. What a legacy!

Now to you who haven't had the privilege of being raised in a godly family, there's hope...

It's in you! It's in your dependence upon the Lord. It's in your commitment to following Him, in blazing new trails, in being the first generation of believers in your family.

You have the opportunity to be the inheritance someone else will receive a part of!