Joshua 18

Joshua 18 continues the process of getting the Promised Land divided up and controlled by the children of Israel.  Everyone got together and Joshua addressed them with these words: “How long are you going to sit around on your hands, putting off taking possession of the land that God….has given you”?  Whoa.  That is pretty much in their face truth.  God has been clear that He is giving them the land.  Joshua has been clear that they just need to go take it.  But we learn in this chapter than 7 of the tribes still have not laid claim to God’s Promised Land.  They are sitting around waiting for it to be handed to them.  Oh what a plague that is.  So very often we just want to sit back and wait for someone else to do something about the situation.  Or maybe just wait for God to do the work and let us know when it has been done.  That isn’t exactly how it works.  God is not always going to hand it to us on a silver platter.  Most of the time, it requires us to be not only involved but in the middle of the process.  God works in and through us to achieve His plan.  He seldom just does it for us on His own.  Not because He can’t, but because a big part of His desire is to teach us the process of being part of His design and plan.  We are His chosen way to impact the world and get things done.  That means we have to get off our hands and do something.  We have to cooperate and participate in what He is up to.

 Henry Blackaby teaches some powerful lessons on the need for us to identify where God is at work, and what He is doing, and then for us to join Him in that.  That teaching is so very important for us to consider.  God is at work all around us.  All day every day.  He is making things happen and causing His plan to come to fruition.  His normal style is to accomplish His will through people.  And we have the opportunity, just like these people, to join Him in what He is doing and be part of His story.  But that requires us to get out of the pew, off the couch, and to take action.  Joshua commanded these folks to select some leaders to go map out the territory so they could take it.  God had already promised it to them.  It was merely a matter of obediently taking it as He promised.  But it did require action.  The Christ like walk we are on requires the same from us.  Being a Christ Follower does not mean we sit back and piously wait for God to do things for us.  It means we are in the trenches being used by Him as He directs to change our life and the world.  Being a Christ Follower = Action.  It means we DO something.  Not just anything – but His things.  As He leads and instructs and guides us day to day.  But it does mean we are not couch potatoes and pew sitters that are there to watch what happens.  It is all about walking in obedience with and serving the living God, and having an intimate relationship with the Savior Jesus.  It means we are in the game, engaged and active, and making it our mission each moment to join God in what He is doing.  That is how we take the land, even today, for our Father.  We are in the same battle as they were back then – taking the land which God has already claimed as His.  Today it may be more of a spiritual conquest, and the battleground may be the souls of those in our patch, but we are still in the mode of taking territory for Him.  So let’s get in the game.  Let’s get after it and let Him use us to make an eternal difference! And let’s get started today!