Unclaimed Property

“And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?” (Jos 18:3 AV)

By the end of Joshua’s life, there was still a good portion of Canaan yet to be conquered.  It wasn’t for lack of opportunity or ability.  Ephraim didn’t conquer their land because it was too hard.  Manasseh didn’t conquer their territory because they became complacent.  Israel had been given a promise.  They had been given direction.  They had been given their borders.  They had received their marching orders.  They had received training.  They had the resources.  What they lacked was initiative.  If God’s people would only realize what the LORD has given them!  If we would take a few moments and realize how much territory, so to speak, is ours for the taking.  Many victories of life await our effort.  Many souls are in the field waiting to be harvested.  We have what we need.  What we lack is the initiative.

I have had several friends that owned different types of businesses.  Contrasting two will help us understand the point here.  The first was a man whose son and I were together in Boy Scouts.  They owned a lumber yard.  His father came from Italy.  They started a lumber yard and heavy equipment rental business.  Almost seventy-five years later, he had grown his business into four locations spanning three counties.  Friend number two was a retailer specializing in a specific area.  He, too, had the means and opportunity to expand.  But never did.  He was content to limit his vision to one and only one location with only a few skews to offer.  The second fella was not at any risk of competition.  He was so specialized it wouldn’t be worth the risk to compete.  So, he had a safe exclusivity.  There was no incentive to expand.  The first, knowing there would be competition took risks and expanded.  In order to survive, he had to expand.  The first saw an opportunity and had means to take a risk.  The second had the same but lacked courage and initiative.  Playing it safe and comfortable kept the second from realizing the highest potential of his investment.  The matter wasn’t a matter of laziness.  Both men worked very hard to accomplish that which they accomplished.  Both are worthy of admiration for what they did.  The difference was initiative.  A willingness to take a risk.

God is not going to do everything for us.  He requires from us service and faith.  God gave the Garden of Eden as a means for Adam and Eve to serve.  What happens when the LORD does everything for us?  Just look at Israel.  God fed them and clothed them during their forty years of wandering.  God sustained them.   Yet, they became ungrateful and complained of what they didn’t have.  When it comes to the spiritual life, the LORD will give us the means and opportunity to wage the battle against sin and for souls.  But He will not do everything for us.  The Holy Spirit will empower us.  But we are not puppets on a string.  We have wills of our own.  We must exercise our faith and our wills that the will of God might become our goal in life.  There is much opportunity that lies before us.  It could be the world is being primed for one last and great revival.  But the job of serving the LORD and evangelizing the lost is ours.  What are we going to do with the land that lays before us?