Joshua 18-19 record the distribution of land to the final seven tribes of Israel that hadn’t yet received their portion. Before it took place God had Joshua gather the people at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting. He asked the people how long they were going to hesitate before going in and taking their possession. Isn’t that a powerful question? How often does God have something for us to take, possess, or live out in our lives, but we hesitate, we wait, we worry about wether God will do what He promises? But as we see in these chapters, the same process that happened in previous chapters happens again, a tribe is given land, the borders are described, and the cities listed. The people go into the land and it becomes theirs. This includes an inheritance for Joshua, their leader. By this time we see what God promises, He does. We need to remember that the next time we are hesitating to take possession of or to live into a reality God has promised for us.
In Joshua 20 we read about the cities of refuge, cities where a person who had committed murder accidentally could go to be safe from the retaliation of the dead person’s family. The rules for these towns had been established in the Torah. Now the carrying out of the plan was to take place. As we’ve read thus far in the Old Testament, we’ve seen God always had a plan. His plan was always the best plan for the Israelites. When they carried out the plan, the result was blessing, but when they didn’t the results were devastating. With all the testimony of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, you would think we would have learned: Obedience brings blessing, and disobedience brings a curse. Yet, time and time again the Israelites forget that reality. So do we! Let’s take the lesson from these passages and recognize again that our call is to follow where God leads us, because as we do our lives will always be the most blessed.
That leads right to our second time through John 10. As you’ll recall, John 10 records Jesus’ illustration of Himself as “The Good Shepherd.” Jesus tells us the sheep (that’s us!) will follow the Shepherd’s voice. He tells us the thief (the devil) comes only to kill, steal, and destroy, but He came to give us life in all its abundance. As we go about this day, and each day, how vital for us to listen for the Shepherd’s voice and then to follow where He leads. That always leads to a better outcome than following the competing and false voices of the world. The Good Shepherd has already laid down His life for us, and risen again to demonstrate that everything He says is true, and all His promises are faithful. Let’s follow where He leads us today.