God is offering so much – but we must possess it.

Scripture:

Joshua 18: 1 – 7

Division of the Rest of the Land

The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The country was brought under their control, but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance.  So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you? Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me. You are to divide the land into seven parts. Judah is to remain in its territory on the south and the house of Joseph in its territory on the north. After you have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, bring them here to me and I will cast lots for you in the presence of the LORD our God.  The Levites, however, do not get a portion among you, because the priestly service of the LORD is their inheritance. (NIV)

Observation:
God have given the country to the control of Israel and yet there were still seven tribes who had not possessed what God had provided. So, Joshua rises up as the leader he is with the capacity to set forth a plan. He appoints three men from each tribe (Doing Tribe as a Team) and sends them forth to make assessment of the land so that it might be divided up fairly. The key in this section is also the truth of the Levites – their service of the Lord is a great value, even more valuable than the possessions of land.

Application:
The question comes from Joshua and could easily come to us as well: “How long will you wait before…?”  It is a statement that breaks through any of our walls of procrastinations. It cuts through the excuses we venture to put up when God and right choices, direction, desire confronts us. What must we do to move forward? What must we do to not put off until tomorrow what we can do today?
For me:

·        Taking better care of myself.

·        Not allowing the demands of my life to become so large I have little time for laughter and joy and recreation. (just to name two)

You should make a list also.

But we must also consider the things the Lord has promised us, forgiveness, power, the Holy Spirit, the blessing of His word and the honor to serve. As we closed our four Easter services, I challenged each person to find places to serve. Serving at LFC, or at a school, in our community, but to consider Easter as a time to remind us of the servanthood of Jesus Christ and to go and do as He did – serve. 

Another application in this passage is to value and follow God’s prescriptions for our lives - to trust Him and go His way. To realize He has placed people in authority to lead and guide us, even in our church. My role, that of our staff, our team leaders and others, that God has placed in position to assess, to report and to guide. We must support those who lead us.

Prayer:

Father, help us to follow you – help all of us to not procrastinate from your blessings and to not miss out on the inheritance you have for us. Let us see places where you may call us to lead others, and also places where we may need to bolster our support for those who lead us. Help us to wait on you and once we know what to do, not to wait but move for you and to where you would have us.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.