Don't Settle
Genesis 13:15-17
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
The scope of the promise God made to Abraham regarding the land where his descendants would live was very large. It went far beyond the borders of the modern day nation of Israel, stretching from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in Iraq. That includes all or part of at least seven different countries on the current map. When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, God gave them victory after victory, and their enemies were driven out before them. Yet despite the power that was available to them, the people settled for far less than what they had been promised. “Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed” (Joshua 13:1).
Even at the height of Israel's strength under David and Solomon, the land they controlled only amounted to about 10 percent of all God had promised. They fell short of what God would have given them, not because He was unable to perform what He had promised, but because they were willing to settle for less. We have an entire Bible filled with promises God has made. They cover every part of life—our salvation, our daily walk as believers, our families, our finances, our relationships, and more—and they are wonderful. Yet all too often we do not receive those promises because we do not claim them in faith. “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not” (James 4:2).
Growth Principle:
We should never be content to settle for less than God has promised us.