Day 68

It Is Finished But

Read: Joshua 11-13

Having conquered the southern part of the Promised Land, Joshua now gives his attention to the north. Here he is faced with an army much larger than his, one equipped with horses and chariots, with the kind of military power he did not possess. But God said, “Do not be afraid” (11:6). As someone has said, “One plus God is a majority.” “If God be for us, who can be against us” (Rom. 8:31 KJV).

Then we read, “Joshua took the whole land” (11:23). Yet at 13:1 we read, “There remains yet very much land to be possessed.” This is not contradictory. When Christ died on the cross, he said, “It is finished.” The perfect sacrifice was complete, but yet much needed to be done by the people of God in spreading the gospel. In similar fashion, on the one hand God had given the entire Promised Land into the hands of Joshua and his people, but there were still pockets of resistance in various parts of the land.

So in our lives. We are redeemed, but there is a great deal of mopping up to do. We are justified, but we are only partly sanctified. There are areas of our lives which need work. Are we neglecting them?

There is in our lives the “already” and the “not yet.” We are already God’s children, but we do not realize how many more wonderful blessings are yet to come.

PRAYER
Father, I am thankful that I am no longer what I used to be. I look forward to what I shall be. In Christ. Amen.