When one of my neighbors told me the city had an easement to put a road between his house and his neighbor I thought that meant the city owned that strip of land and was allowing my neighbor to use it. Therefore, I thought that’s a great illustration regarding us and heaven. We accept Jesus and become daughters and sons of God and then, as heirs, we have an easement, a legal right, to an acre of God’s Kingdom with a home designed just for us. I was so wrong. It is usually worthwhile to actually look up definitions of words.
An easement does not give the city ownership of my neighbor’s land. The city only has the right to use my neighbor’s land. Ownership remains with my neighbor. (Because he still owns it, he still has to pay taxes on it. That is very clever of the city.) As heirs of the kingdom, (See Galatians 4 and Romans 8.) we do not receive an easement while God retains ownership. It is much better than that. We actually become owners of our own place. It is ours. I was going to say, therefore we can use it anyway we please. But there are most likely zoning laws so our neighbors can’t have any rusted out Fords or Chevys on cement blocks in their front yards.
I want to once again use Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:32. It is our Father’s good pleasure to GIVE us the kingdom. We do not inherit an easement. We inherit ownership. One of the best things to enjoy is there will be no annual property tax.
Written by Roger Bothwell on January 11, 2017
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