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Scripture for the day: (One of my favorites, among many others) Joshua 1:3,5 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses …. as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.
Thought for the day: When my grandson, was just about three years old, I, and a few of the men in our church were building a two-story garage next to the parsonage. We'd completed the first floor and were beginning to put up rafters to make a gambrel style roof. We'd put a ladder up to the second story and were busy putting together the necessary pieces to support the roof when I looked behind me and there stood my grandson, smiling up at me with a self-satisfied grin on his face. He enthusiastically said, "Here I am! I made it!" Completely unnoticed by any of us he'd climbed the ladder and gotten onto the second floor of the garage, at only 3 years old! Was he proud of himself for his accomplishment? You know he was. Needless to say, he quickly learned from his grandfather how to get back down off the roof.
Well, his attitude in reaching such lofty heights reminds me of the attitude many have taken through the years in their spiritual life. We too often fall into the trap of thinking we've somehow "made it" and don't have anything else to do except wait for the Lord to return. We've beaten sin and temptation, we've experienced Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives; there are no more worlds to conquer.
The problem with this idea is that it couldn't be further from the truth. The children of Israel are a prime example. They'd come out from Egypt, having been rescued by God through Moses. They'd followed Him these 40 years, with some notable ups and downs along the way, and He'd provided for them and taught them many things, preparing them to enter the Promised Land. Now He'd brought them to the edge of that land under Joshua's leadership and was about to fulfill the Promise He'd given Abraham. But He knew one of the dangers they'd face would be the temptation to think they'd "arrived" and there was nothing left to do. So He only gave them a little of the land at a time so they'd have goals to be met and He warned them of the need to maintain what He was giving them. But in the midst of all that He gave them the promise we've read today, "Every place your foot will tread upon I have given you."
What an incredible statement! And what a promise it is for us today as well. God said, "I have given"; not "I will give". It's a done deal. Whatever God wants you to do is as good as done. Wherever He wants you to go is as good as accomplished. Whatever heights He wants you to scale are as good as conquered. Whatever depths of understanding He wants you to probe are as good as understood. Whatever trials He wants you to face are as good as met. And whatever enemies He wants you to do battle with are as good as defeated.
Salvation isn't the end of our relationship with God; it's the beginning. Sanctification through the infilling of the Holy Spirit isn't the end either; it's a giant step forward in our relationship. We're tempted to settle down but we are pilgrims, strangers in the land, still looking homeward, and our journey must take us over the next spiritual hill, around the next spiritual corner, until we arrive safely at our own Promised Land and take possession of it. As one wise man once said, "we are but wanderers here and the ashes of our campfire should never be found in the same place twice."
Now go take on your world (it's already been given to you). - Bill