“But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little, I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.” (Exodus 23:29-30 NIV)
As the Israelites prepared for the Promised Land, God made some commitments to His people. He vowed to go before them and clear out the land of it’s inhabitants in fulfillment of His land covenant. He warns them, though, that this wouldn’t be a sudden and complete task, He wasn’t going to do it all at once. No, an abandoned land would go to seed quickly, take on the ‘widow’s look’ and ultimately be more challenging for the Israelites to cultivate. Instead, God’s plan was strategic. The land would be emptied a little at a time, allowing the Israelites opportunity to multiply as their landholdings increased. It seems that it God’s desire was that the exchange of land would happen a plot at a time, that the Israelites would inherit entire farms and cities with virtually no interruption in crop cycles or economic systems. The Israelites would harvest fields they had not planted and live in cities they did not build. This was God’s plan. There would be no wrestle with the disrepair or desolation that comes from inoccupancy.
This morning I see how this is what the Lord does with most of us. We commit our lives to Christ and get ourselves saved, but very rarely does He sweep through the entire house and send us back out as a completely new creation. Far more often, it is a process. He starts with an entryway or the great room and slowly but surely works His way through the halls and chambers of our hearts and minds, until, at last, all the square footage has been reclaimed for Him. It’s a process called sanctification and it can take years, even decades. It’s a process that we can slow down significantly by lack of cooperation.
The Israelites failed to finish the task. What about us? What keeps us from allowing the Lord into the corridors and far-off corners of our home? Much like the Israelites; we let fear and indifference call the shots. We are afraid of the fierceness of battle and we have grown cozy in our cramped quarters. We forget that we have been called out for wide-open spaces. Instead, we are content with just a title of our life subject to the Lord’s jurisdiction, rather than the whole of it as He asks for.
Like the Israelites, we often lack the courage to complete the task. We forget that God Himself goes before us. That He fights our battles and overwhelms our enemy. That He clears the way for us to occupy the land alongside Him. We only need to cooperate.
“The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV)
Lord, forgive us for failing to take the land. We see clearly today, how we slack in the area of sanctification. You long for the whole of us: every hallway, every room. We confess our fear and apathy. Renew our vigor and courage. Today we throw open the doors of our hearts and minds: occupy us with Your power and presence. Chase the enemy out of our habitation completely. Give us the victory as You promised for Your people. Amen.