Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Joshua 17 - Land Is Not Enough

Well, it appears the eldest son is favored just a bit...  Checking out the maps again this morning and Manasseh's overall allotment of land appears to be by far the largest of the tribes.  Even so, I note that they have not been able to clear the land of the Canaanites, either.

The tribe of Joseph is not happy that Manasseh gets more land than they do.  They complain to Joshua.  Joshua tells them to go to the forest and clear the land for the people.  And even though the Canaanites may come against them, they should also clear the land of them as well.  Joshua tells them to drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.

All this land being alotted; it is the inheritance of the children of Israel.  It is a gift from God.  As I was thinking this morning about how even though the land is a gift, the people had to go in and possess it and they had to work the land for it to be fruitful for them.  God gave it to them, but they didn't get to lay in bed 'till noon and do nothing the rest of the day.  They actually had to go and take possession - they had to do something. 

As you probably guessed; actually, what I was thinking was about the modern day family.  I was imagining a father who owned thousands of acres of land and having sons, decided to split it up, so that they could use this land to support themselves and their families.  I was just kind of imagining the number of sons that would be like Joseph complaining about their alotment.  Maybe it's too swampy or too many trees.  Maybe the land is flat and grassy.  I was wondering if 12 sons received an inheritance of land today, how many would know how or have the ambition to make it fruitful.  How many would live in poverty because they didn't know how or wouldn't put the gift they'd received to good use?  Was wondering how many of them would be sitting in the bar complaining about the inheritance that they received instead of putting the land to work for them?  In the coming generations, would we hear of all 12 sons, or would only one (or none) survive and be fruitful enough to be known and remembered by the people?

Seems there is always a problem with the gifts we receive.  No one ever really gives us just the right gifts that we need to succeed... :)  Some of these gifts require an awful lot of work to make them work. 

May God help us to learn to appreciate each and every gift that has been alotted to us and to use them to His glory... 

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