When Will You Accept the New Way?

So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?” Joshua 18:3

Years ago, while working in the ER, our hospital implemented a new electronic medical record, abandoning the old days of paper charts along with the transcriptionists who typed out my dictations. With this newfangled system came voice recognition software which, if I had learned how to use it, would have instantly typed whatever I said. This was in the early days of voice recognition though, and there was a learning curve which I was unwilling to put myself through. So, for years, I typed all my notes. Even the older physicians made fun of me as they watched me pound on my keyboard. It’s not as if I liked typing. I hated all the time I spent on the computer. I understood my life would be better if I learned the new way, but I just always told myself that I’d do it tomorrow. So, I typed for years, refusing to accept a better way of doing things. Now, having accepted the new technology, I can’t imagine going back to the old way, but back then, I just slugged it out on the keyboard, day after day.

This was a lot like my opioid addiction. I knew God desired a new life of faith and recovery for me. I hated using drugs and I wanted to be sober. It just seemed like a lot of work and sacrifice to get there. So, I told myself I’d do it tomorrow as I floundered in the misery of my old life. God must have just sat there, shaking his head at me. Why don’t you accept the new life? It’s right there waiting. Why do you wallow in the old life?

This is the same question Joshua posed to seven of Israel’s tribes in today’s passage. In the story, much of the promised land had been conquered and divided up among Israel’s 12 tribes. Still, a good portion of Canaan remained unconquered, and it seemed that these seven tribes were content with not receiving all their inheritance. So, Joshua asked them. Why don’t you go take the new life God intends for you? How long will you do nothing, being satisfied with the scraps of life?

If we’re wallowing in some struggle, this is the same question God poses to us. How long will you wait? The new life is waiting. Why remain enslaved when the new life is available? He doesn’t magically transport us there though. Rather, he leads us, asking that we do whatever it takes to follow him out of the old life, into the new one.