Perspectives on the Promised Land

Well we just returned to the beautiful, awesome, home away from home Camp Shelby. It is funny what a little perspective will do for you. 4 weeks ago my fellow soldiers and I couldn't wait to get away from Camp Shelby and go somewhere, anywhere else. We were so tired of the "Mississippi hospitality" we were receiving. Just wanted to leave here if you get the picture.
We arrived in Ft. Polk roughly 3 weeks ago and well lets just say it was not what we expected. The accommodations were horrible, the food was worse, and the weather... Well lets just say Minnesota is not the only place on earth with unpredictable weather. It was either rainy and muddy or cold and colder. Not like Minnesota cold, but colder that you'd expect it to be in the south. I mean Pennsylvania winters were warmer. Hmmm south? I think Katrina took the warm weather away.
It wasn't just that it was the whole super fast optempo(that's a military term for "got a lot of stuff to do with no time to do it" Sigh...For the 5 day a week, 7-1630 work schedule.) But, it was also the whole being evaluated thing. It was like a 3 week long test. Even though my proctors were great it was still a test. Actually I think that the best part of the whole experience was the Chaplains and Chaplain assistant at Ft. Polk. I really appreciated all of them. Mostly it was a test of the work that I did this summer, the preparation I did for the deployment teams.
I did a limited survey and most of the other soldiers felt the same way as I did, Please send me back to Camp Shelby. I am starting to think that all of this training is just something that makes us anxious and happy to be in Iraq. The biggest part for me is that it is hard to be "unsettled." Unsettled to me is the feeling that you can't get too comfortable in any one spot because you need to move again soon. I am starting to get used to that feeling. The nice thing about it is that it is impossible to get complacent.
I have been thinking a lot lately about Abram/Abraham. Abram was given a promise, the promise of a child that will be his heir. He has wealth, God has blessed him greatly, but he is missing 2 things. He is missing an heir and a home. Why is it a big deal to him? Well because Abram is thinking more eternally than temporally, he recognizes that when he dies all his wealth will mean nothing without someone to leave it to. But, this promise is bigger than just someone to inherit Abram's wealth. The promise is that he will become the father of a nation. But that promise is even bigger than that, it is through him that God will save his people. It is through this promise that we are provided with a savior.
Once God reassures Abram of the promise, he is settled. Once he is sure of an heir he is less unsettled. God then promises him that he will inherit the land of Canaan. Notice that the inheritance means nothing without the heir. We have also been promised an inheritance. We have been given the promise of heaven. Heaven is our promised land, however, it means nothing without the heir. Without Jesus Heaven is more than out of reach, it is meaningless.
There seems to be some parallel here. God promises Abram an heir and an inheritance. I believe that as a part of that same promise God promises you Jesus and Heaven. God has already given us Jesus, and if we have him, if we have the heir, we have Heaven, we have the inheritance.