The TIW Blog

Joshua 1:3  Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

As Joshua assumes the leadership of Israel, he had a lot do deal with. There was Moses, now dead, a great leader who was a foreshadow of Christ himself (Deuteronomy 18:15). After leading the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness with the people of Israel, yet he was not allowed into Canaan. Think again of the past: all the failures of the people. All the horrible things they did, and all the horrible things that happened to them in the wilderness. Joshua was a witness to the dreadful history of Israel since the exodus. How about the future? Remember when Moses sent the spies to check out the land? There were giants. Those giants are still going to be there now. There were cities. There were fortifications. There were organized armies. There was the uncertainty of a new era. Joshua was one of the first to see the land of Canaan over forty years ago. Now it is upon him to take the land. In Joshua 1:3, he knew that challenges lay ahead that would seem insurmountable. He knew that their enemies were still there, only stronger than they were decades ago.

It is in the light of the past, and in the light of the future that God spoke to Joshua in our text. Both the past and the future were limiting factors. If Joshua dwelt on either or both of those, how far do you think he would have gotten into Canaan? Not far at all. God gave a message that – if we listened to it today – would transform our lives just as it transformed Joshua’s life in his day. Notice how God’s words to Joshua did not deal with the past. They did not deal with the future. God’s word was in the present. It was now. Joshua was not to think about all the problems and disasters from the past, neither was he to consider the battles that lay ahead. The key to conquering Canaan was the present moment.

“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you”

Joshua was not promised possession of the land in either the past or the future. The possession of the land was present. If he wanted it, all he had to do was to move his foot now.

The Bible talks a lot about the now in which we should be living. Here are just a few examples:

• “Today, if ye will hear his voice…” (Hebrews 4:7)
• “Take therefore no thought for the morrow…” (Matthew 6:34)
• The manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16)

The time to get victory is now. The time for joy is now. The time to act is now. The past and the future are irrelevant: if you want all that God has promised you, you only have to move your feet NOW!