Joshua 17

Bible Passage:  Joshua 17

Manasseh was half of the tribe of Joseph and itself was divided into 2 parts. The land was allotted. Though each half of the tribe of Joseph and the other tribes of Israel each had their own inheritance, they were actually supposed to work together against their common enemy – the Canaanites.

I like appleofHiseye’s sharing yesterday, “So as a family of God’s chosen people, we need to know that we will always be fighting. Our life is a spiritual war to conquer sin and let others know God. This land also represents the land in our hearts allotted to us, bought by the price of His precious blood, therefore we must conquer all sin and guard our hearts.”

Yes! Oftentimes, I feel like I am fighting everyday. Fighting to throw out the sins that find their way into my heart when I am not careful, finding that peace and joy felt by a clean heart. But we must be very clear who we are fighting against. Not with our fellow brethren, or against sinners (incidentally we ourselves are sinners) but against sin, and its swift propagation when handled carelessly.

If we are occupied with serving our own plans and will, it is difficult to focus on serving God’s purpose for us. Do we consider ourselves masters of our own lives or do we respect God as our master? There are many amongst us who are determined to live uprightly and are driven to excel in life, but even for the strong, we must learn to recognize our physical and cognitive limits and we must realize that without God, we do not have a permanent place we can call our own. There are times when we need to rely on God too.

Laziness and indulgence are not the answer though. These were the traits that could perhaps have been eating into the tribes. Why else were the tribes of Israel not able to drive out the Canaanites despite God’s providence and guidance? After all, God’s hold is sovereign!

¹²……… Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. ¹³ And it happened, when the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labour, but did not utterly drive them out.

How hard do we try clearing out each of our spaces of sin and preparing the people in our circle of influence (family, friends and acquaintances) to receive God’s word? What do we talk about when we meet our schoolmates and colleagues everyday? Are there no opportunities at all to share with them God’s bountiful graces in our lives? Is idleness and sin encroaching into our spaces slowly but surely, ‘unknown’ to us?

“They shall not eat who will not work.” (2 Thess 3:10)

Many of our “cannots” are excuses born of idleness, which when accumulated or procrastinated, are magnified and become harder to resolve. This applies especially in our spiritual work and warfare. It is true that without Christ we can do nothing, but instead of actively seeking opportunities to fight a good fight, we are contented to sit still and attempt nothing.

We can learn from Jabez who actively sought God’s favour and his alloted portion.

“Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.” (1 Chron 4:9-10)

God, in his time, gives us His land we strive to conquer.