The Edge

 "Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess." Numbers 33:53....."So Joshua said to the sons of Israel, 'How long will you put off entering to take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?' " Joshua 18:3...."We know what we're freed from, but we don't know what we're called to possess." Francis Frangiapane

We kind of enjoy poking fun and criticism at the Israelites for how slow they were to believe and trust God. From the distance of 3000 plus years that's easy to do. It also makes it easy for us to be blind to how much we're like them. We're like them as expressed in the words of Joshua, and in the words of Frangiapane. We've been given, in Jesus Christ, a "land" we've done nothing to deserve, but like the Israelites of old, we haven't really entered in. We live at it's borders. The Father, through His servant Joshua's words, had to almost push them into the land. Otherwise they'd have made their home on the border. Too many of His people are doing the same as concerns the spiritual land we have been given in Jesus Christ.

Israel knew that God had freed them from their slavery to Egypt. Their bodies were free, but their minds and spirits weren't. They still processed everything through the mindset of a slave, of a prisoner. They had no idea of all that awaited them in their land of promise. Neither do we.

When the nation first sent the 12 spies into the land to explore it, they returned with the report. They agreed on the bounty it contained, but only Joshua and Caleb weren't afraid to face the challenges in occupying it. The people would not enter in, and in doing so, wandered for 40 years until that generation had died. Now, here they were again, and again, they were lingering on the edge. The edge of the fullness of the promise. How many of us are lingering at the edge of all the fullness we are promised in Christ? The land of Canaan contained riches beyond belief for the Israelites. How much deeper are the infinite riches to be had in Christ for those who have received Him? Yet we linger at the edge of it all. We may believe that we have been saved by the blood of Christ, but we know little of what we've been saved for. We've never "explored the land."

Paul wrote so much about the depth of the riches to be had in Jesus Christ. He is the believers promised land. He is a land without borders, without restrictions. The riches found in Him are infinite, and so are the possibilities for us that are found in Him. He calls us to come feed upon those riches, but we prefer to nibble on their crumbs. We never really come to know both the depth of the riches, nor the heights of the life He has saved us for. We're always at the edge of it all, but we never enter into the wonder of it all.

Where in our lives do we continue to sit at the border, at the edge of all His promises? What keeps us from entering in? Unbelief? Fear? There are challenges to taking possession for sure, but the key is that we have already been given the promise, which guarantees victory in and over every challenge. So let us respond to the call, enter into the land, our land, and live in all the fullness and wonder of what He has secured for us on the cross and in His resurrection. Let us no longer linger at the border, at the edge. Let us enter in.

Blessings,

Pastor O