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CLAIMING OUR PROMISED LAND
Joshua 1:1-11
It is tempting to read Joshua 1:8 and take it to mean that God promises material prosperity when we keep his Word. But clearly there is a context. Joshua is to lead the Israelites across the River Jordan into Canaan and there, as God promised, “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life.” To be prosperous and successful in this context is to claim the Promised Land and to be blessed by it.
In our context as Christians, our Promised Land are the great promises God has lavished on us through Jesus Christ: forgiveness, mercy and grace, the Holy Spirit, righteousness, Sonship, and his unbreakable love towards us, and beyond these, to be with him in heaven. These are promises that are ours to claim even here and now but like Joshua and the Israelites, battles have to be fought, blood, sweat and tears have to be shed but “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
These great promises are far greater than the billion dollar bank account, the mansion, the top of the range car. The Bible poses to us the question, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
But we must pay heed to the vital caveat: Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.
This is vital because it is God who guarantees us victory. And we must be careful to make sure that God is by our side and on our side.