I had to read the Chapter 3-4 times over the course of flying home today from Philadelphia, but as I was swimming tonight the concept of finishing the race came to me.
Joshua 13:1 Now Joshua was old and well advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, you are very old and the are still very large areas of land to be taken over.
(Then the rest of the chapter illustrates this vast land that the Lord still has "reserved" for Israel.)
But let think about the race or better yet finishing the race... Is this not a race that all we really have to do is go and accept Christ. Actually that is the easy part. So many Christians start off with a lot of enthusiasm and power. We make great strides in our walks and then we hit the plateau and our conquest to walk with Christ weakens. We fail to continue to strive for what really awaits us in heaven. We sort of kick back in the spiritual race and try to find a place to rest upon our past successes. We love to remember the Glory days or the good ole days when we were really on fire for Christ. We forget that God wants us to live for today and tomorrow, not the past. God wants us to be current, up-to-the-moment with His Grace and power and love in our lives and thus His victory.
In other words we get complacent, perhaps content. Just like Joshua and the Israelites. They did not press onward for the full victory. Are we? We become satisfied in our spiritual walks and then complacent and then evil has an opportunity. When we become comfortable with our flesh life we are in deep dodo. Our flesh is our constant enemies in our walks. So how important does it become for us to all be searching and moving towards a full possession of what God has promised to us. How important is this? Just as with Joshua...there was much land still to be possessed. How much of a race is still in front of us? Does it fell overwhelming? Yes, if you let the flesh rule and no, if you turn the race over to God and let him lead.
One final thought, I am curious about the tribe of Levi receiving no inheritance...it's mentioned twice in the chapter, verses 14 and 33.
Benjamin's commnets via text:
ReplyDeleteFinishing the race is definitely something any athlete can relate to. The stat of complacency is a very easy place to be. Much easier than challenging yourself to grow with the lord, make time to read daily, and be an example for him. Thanks for being onto me for not getting this done for the last few days. It is much easier to make progress in this race if you have people along side you cheering you on and helping you along the way. We need to surround ourselves with likeminded individuals who will holds us accountable and then turn it over to god and he will do the rest. As far as the tribe of Levi, i believe they are the designated tribe of priests of Israel , and do not get land of their own, but are welcome in any other of the tribes' land, to live there and carry out their priestly duties.The food offerings meaning the burnt sacrifices and offerings up to god for forgiveness of sins.