The spiritual and practical unite in our lives when God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
To be spiritual does not mean to be impractical. The Lord’s promise to the Levites, the families of the priests, that He would be their inheritance was not the end of it. With all due respect, God’s servants cannot make porridge of prayers and platitudes. I’m reminded of the circuit-riding preacher who was told (in lieu of a financial gift), “The Lord will reward you at the judgment.” To which he replied, “Well, maybe you could give my horse some oats; he won’t be there.” The servants of God needed to have a practical foothold in the land as well. “So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their common-lands” (Jos 21:3). Then follows a long list of the various cities and their environs (a ring of 2,000 cubits around each settlement) from the territories of all the 12 tribes. Thus, “All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their common-lands” (v 41). Yet, while the practical necessity to provide for the material well-being of these families was evident, this arrangement also turned back to the spiritual as well. Little children all across the land would grow up in close proximity to priests and their families. The teaching of the Word of God would be accessible to all. Everyone would see that priests are people too. They had families, heartaches, challenges, and common labor to perform. The life of faith was livable in ordinary towns and villages, as much as in the holy sanctuary. How important this is for our children, neighbors, and workmates to see. Even first-century slaves in their everyday labor could “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things” (Titus 2:10). Isn’t that a delightful goal for us today?