Year 1, Day 204: Joshua 19

Unusual Ease

Okay, so to begin this blog I will allow myself to be influenced by Tom.  {For reference, see Tom’s comment on the blog entry for Joshua 17.}  There, Tom makes the point that it is really neat to see Simeon’s inheritance come from within Judah’s inheritance.  And it is really neat to see Judah give up a portion of the land the way that they do.  Judah has too much, and they give some up to their kin.  That’s a really neat point!

God’s Allotment

This speaks a couple of neat points with respect to spirituality.  First, God always allots more to us than we can ever use as human beings.  He just does.  I can never hope to “out-spiritual” God.  I may think I’m at the end of my limit and working at full capacity, but there is always more with God!  As spiritual as I may try to become, God can always give me more.  He can always ask me to push the envelope one more step.  There is always room for growth.  There is always room to share out of the spirituality that God has given to me.

A remember a skit that I learned at church camp.  One person stands at the front and has their hands clenched around “something hidden and beautiful.”  They talk about how pretty it is.  Another person comes along and asks to share.  The first person is hesitant, but eventually shares.  As the first person exits, they make the comment that in sharing they discover that their “hidden and beautiful thing got bigger.”  This continues with person after person, with each person who shares commenting that their “hidden thing” got bigger.  The last progression involves someone who refuses to share with another.  As the person who didn’t get any walks away sad, the person who refused to share opens their hands and asks, “Hey, where did mine go?”

I don’t know if that makes much sense in words as it does in the actual presentation of the skit.  But the point is that when we share the faith that God gives it actually grows within us.  But when we refuse to share, our spirituality dies.  Faith is not meant to be kept to ourselves.  Much like Judah’s land was meant to be shared with Simeon, so our faith is meant to be shared with others.  When I look at people who claim that their faith is so small and weak and they don’t feel equipped to share, I can’t help but wonder if the reason it is so small and weak is if because they have never shared it!

And you’re right, Tom, that is indeed a beautiful point.

Fighting For What Was Given

The rest of the inheritance accounts can be read without much significance until we get to the last one: Dan.  Notice that only here in Dan do we hear about a group of people who lose their inheritance until they actually go up and fight for it.  And in fighting for it, they are victorious.  Although they may not have gained the same land that the lost, mind you.

Again we can see that we must fight for our spirituality if we actually want it to be meaningful to us.  As we struggle in this world – perhaps even taking our spirituality for granted – we might end up losing some ground.  It’s called backsliding.  But when we search deep inside ourselves and ask God to give us the resolve to fight for our spirituality then we can be victorious and reclaim our spirituality.  What matters is not our past backsliding and loss of spirituality.  What matters is that we fight for it now knowing that God fights with us now and into the future.  Through God, we can fight for our spiritual selves and win!

Joshua’s Inheritance

Finally, we see that Joshua receives an inheritance.  Once all the land is divided up, Joshua can turn to his own inheritance.  Joshua – the leader – waits until all those under him are established in God’s promise before himself settling down.

This is just the way of spiritual leadership.  There is no place for the self-monger as a spiritual leader.  It is never about what “I need.”  It is always about what “God has called me to do.”  For if God has called it, God will provide for the needs of the one who leads until the calling is complete.  Here Joshua’s calling is now complete and only then does God allow him to find his inheritance.

<><