Joshua 12-14

Another great day to be alive!!! Hope you will get to spend a few moments out in the sunshine, basking in God's promise of springtime.

Why do you suppose we have this list of conquered kings?  Could it be because we need to remember, from time to time, all that God has done for us?  Such a remembrance reminds us of how blessed we are and gives us an opportunity to tell again the story of God's goodness and mercy.

God tells Joshua that he is getting old(I don't need to be reminded Lord), but there is still much to do, lands yet to be conquered.  Can I suggest what this may mean to us as a people of Faith?  We have seen God's mercy and blessing in our place of ministry.  He has grown us and made us able to do even more in his name and for his sake.  Much work has been accomplished.  Many lives have been touched......BUT.... there are still lands to be conquered, there are yet lives to be touched.  This is not a time to take a vacation....this is a time to press ahead to continue to build the kingdom and to do that which God has called us do for as long as we have life and breath and this great hope in Jesus Christ.

In the 13th verse of the 13th chapter there is this little piece, "the children of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maachathites."  These were people on the other side of the Jordan in the allotment to Gad and Rueben.  We don't give it much  thought, but remember that God had commanded that all of these pagan peoples would be driven out.  Later in the history of Israel, King Solomon will take a wife from among the Geshurites and they will have a son named Absalom.  Absalom will lead a revolt against the kingdom.  He will go to Geshur to gather strength and Israel will become a divided land.  The sin that was left will be their destruction.

Chapter 14 reintroduces us to Caleb, one of the two faithful spies from 40 years before.  he is now more than 80 years old and still filled with strength and vigor.  He reminds Joshua, as he begins the allocation of lands to the tribes, that God promised him the land upon which his feet had trod.  he asks for what God had promised as a reward for his faithfulness.  We should follow after Caleb's example.  Our lives should be lived faithfully in service to the God of our creation and we should not be bashful about asking God for the promises that he has made to us as his children.