Joshua 18:3
“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?”

When the Israelites finally got to the Promised Land and defeated the inhabitants, their leader Joshua divided the land among the tribes. At one point, Joshua found out that seven of the tribes had not yet received their inheritance. He couldn’t understand why they didn’t take possession of what God had already given them.

I don’t blame Joshua. I really don’t understand why they didn’t possess their inheritance either. In fact, I don’t understand a lot of why the Israelites acted the way they did. I read passage after passage about the Israelites messing up and I’m tempted to ask them, “How foolish can you be?” Then I hear a still, small voice ask me the same question, “How foolish can you be?”

Haven’t we all been as foolish as the Israelites at one time or another? When we turned our lives over to God, he made us joint-heirs with his Son Jesus Christ. God gave us so much, yet we are often too slack to go and possess it. Shall we continue to be slack? Or will we use due diligence to grab hold of everything God offers?

God offers us unconditional love, yet many people often settle for less. They drift from relationship to relationship seeking the true love they know is out there for them. They have an emptiness inside which never seems to go away. Some wonder if anybody will ever love them. God will fill their emptiness if they would only seek him.

God also offers us peace, yet we often give place to worry or fear. We fret about something or someone instead of going to God in prayer to receive the peace that passes understanding.

God offers us wisdom as well, yet we often go to everyone but God for the answers we need. And then we wonder why things didn’t work out so well. Surely the One who created the universe would give wise counsel if we ask him.

We need to open our Bibles and discover all that God has for us. But more importantly, we need to take possession of all he has for us.