Allowing God COMPLETE ownership over our lives
March 9 Bible
Reading: Joshua Chapters 16-18
Allowing God COMPLETE ownership over our lives
The
twelve tribes of Israel received the Promised Land as their inheritance, which
was divided among them according to God’s plan administered through Joshua. "Then Joshua cast lots for them in
Shiloh before the Lord, and there Joshua divided the land to the children of
Israel according to their divisions" (Josh 18:10). However, we read
again and again that the Israelites could not exercise full dominion over the
land as the new owners, and drive out the Canaanite inhabitants from the land
property. With each of the tribes of Israel, the same sad story was repeated
again and again (Josh 13:13; 15:63; 16:10; 17:12). Even though they were
convinced that they were a great people due to God’s blessings, they feared the
strength of the Canaanites and their weaponry like iron chariots (Josh
17:14-18) and were not brave enough to drive out the enemy from their
territory. Sadly, due to this compromise they slowly drifted away from God’s
laws, intermingled with the heathen and adopted their religious practices
including worshipping idols which ultimately brought their destruction.
It is the
will of God that we, as God’s children, should be aware of our rights,
privileges and responsibilities. The writer of the book of Hebrews reminds us: But one testified in a certain place,
saying: "What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that
You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor,
and set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet." For in that He put all in subjection under
him, He left nothing that is not put under him. (Heb 2:6-8).
Our Lord
Jesus Christ is a type of Joshua, who has not only conquered the gates of hell
for us but has opened to us the gates of heaven, and having purchased for us the
eternal inheritance so that we should take possession of it by faith and trust
in Him. It was God’s plan from the very beginning of creation that man should
have dominion (Gen 1:27-28). However, since Satan has usurped our godly
inheritance, God wants us to recapture the dominion that man held from the very
beginning. This is only possible when we allow God to have complete ownership
over our lives.
Let us look deep within us and check if there is any area of our lives that we have not given complete ownership to God. It is our act of total surrender and our willingness to resist the enemy that will allow us to exercise full dominion over our lives – the way God had planned from the very beginning. Today, let us allow God to have complete ownership over our lives!
