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Day 64, or March the 5th. Are you just going to stand there?

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Our thought today is rooted in Joshua chapter 18 verse 3. So Joshua said to the Israelites,

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How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD,

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the God of your ancestors, has given you?

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First the big picture around this verse. The boundaries and borders for each tribe dominate

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the book of Joshua. There are chapters and chapters of them. There seems to be no end,

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but whilst we may have difficulty seeing the relevance of them, all the people in Joshua's

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day must have thanked God through Joshua for being so clear and transparent in his expectations.

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Each tribe knew exactly what God had for them, and readily accepted it.

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Now today's action step. Doesn't God love things to be well-ordered

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and specific? The book of Joshua is a great example of God's accuracy and attention

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to detail. In amongst the details, however, there is a little gem of a question. It can

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be summed up in these words. How long are you going to wait before you do something?

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I believe that's a question we should all ask ourselves. I've heard churches say,

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as soon as we're prepared then we will move on, but we must take time to prepare. Preparation

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is important, of course, but it must never be used as an excuse for inactivity. Sometimes

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individuals will say, I just don't know enough yet, but as soon as I feel confident,

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then I'll step out. No, you won't. You will never feel confident enough. Or if you

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do, please ask a supplementary question. Confident in what or whom? Many tell you, all you have

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to do is believe in yourself. You only have to watch some of the cringe-inducing performances

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on reality TV to know that believing in your own ability is rarely enough. As believers,

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we need to believe in God before we believe in ourselves and prepare as much as we can,

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and act as urgently as we can. Today's a day for action. None of us knows what tomorrow

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will bring.