Pleasant Lines

This past Christmas our daughter Sarah gifted us a journaling Bible. Included with it was a folder, "Follow the Word," on reading the Bible together in one year. St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress (the church where she is the Director of Christian Education) is also doing this together as a congregation in 2026.

I've really enjoyed going through this reading plan so far. It's different from the way I usually do my reading. It keeps me on track, it's more chronological, and each day's selection also includes a portion of the Psalms so we get a little bit of that book each day throughout the entire year.

Last Friday I read Psalm 16, which is wonderful in its entirety, but one verse in particular stood out for me. It resonated in a way that touched me deeply. I've read that verse before, but this time it was different. More profound. More... personal.

Verse six reads, "The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance."

Here David is "offering thanks and praise (to God) for a beautiful estate and holding of property" according to the Lutheran Study Bible commentary, but he is also referring to his eternal inheritance.

That verse made me stop in my tracks. I thought to myself, "What pleasant lines have been drawn for me in my life also. What a beautiful inheritance I have as well!" I don't think those words about lines have to refer to physical wealth or property, not temporal inheritance. I think the lines can be about the content and quality of our lives. And... the beautiful inheritance... I'll definitely get to that too.

First, a question: Where do the pleasant lines fall in your life?

For me it has to be a happy marriage, a husband who dearly loves me, the blessings of children and grandchidren, the laughter shared with friends, a little home to care for that in turn takes care of me. It's being able to get up out of bed every morning and go for a walk. It's the nuggets of wisdom from God's Word that are tucked deep in my heart and bubble to the surface whenever I am reminded of them.

I am in awe of how pleasant God has allowed the lines to fall in my life.

It isn't that my life, or anyone's life is devoid of trials and difficulties. That is just simply part of living in this broken world, this middle existence of the "now" and the "not yet." However, there is still beauty in this world God created and in each life He touches.

The words rich and wealth are relative terms. That which defines your life and enriches your days is what makes you truly wealthy. You don't have to own land or have hefty investment accounts to experience great riches. Gold is had for the taking in all kinds of little ways throughout the day.

Just think about how the first rays of sunlight gild the tops of the trees at day's break, or how the embrace of a loved one warms the heart. The tiny hand of a child or grandchild in yours, a good old belly laugh around the table, the smell of bread baking, the taste of chicken and dumplings, the little birds splashing in the bowls of water they'd rather bathe in than drink, the thrill of spotting the first bloom on the mountain laurel. ALL golden moments.

These are the pleasant lines. Oh, that we could somehow age backward, beginning life with the kind of wisdom that comes only through age and experience! How much more I would have treasured those pleasant lines that God in His divine mercy and grace was drawing each day for me.

I see them now and I am so grateful. But of all that has been given me thus far in my life, the thing I value most is the beautiful inheritance waiting for me and for all believers.

God draws lines in everyone's life. These are life lines. They draw us to Him. They connect us with the One who desires more than anything that we would be with Him in eternity forever. The gifts point us to the Giver. When we have the Lord, when we put our faith and trust in Him alone, we roo can say boldly with the psalmist David, "The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance."