Moving In ... and Moving On!

The other day I washed a windowsill.  There’s nothing special about that, I hear you say.  Quite true, I suppose, it’s not a special occasion ... but for me, it was.  As I did so, I realised that this was the first time I’d washed that windowsill in all the years I’ve lived in this flat; at any other time I would have flicked it with the duster and considered it done.  The thought prompted an exclamation, “Go in and possess the land!”

Of course, there’s a whole back story to that little occurrence.  I suppose it all began during my recent holiday.  While I was away, tradesmen had descended on my flat, redecorating the bathroom and fitting new blinds there and in the kitchen.  Inevitably, there was a small amount of ‘evidence’ of their presence to be tidied away after my return and I used this need as my excuse to accede to a recent temptation to invest in a new vacuum cleaner. 

This small, but powerful, bag-less cleaner removed more dust and detritus in a week than its predecessor had managed in years!  Not only did it clean my carpets; it also uplifted my whole attitude!  A number of reforms have taken place in the last couple of weeks, prompted by the combination of the smart bathroom and the new cleaner.  Thus it was that, when I spotted brick-dust from the blind installation on the edge of the tiling around the kitchen sink, instead of simply acknowledging its presence, I wiped it off, and thereby realised the need for the whole area to be cleaned ‘properly’.

My exclamation, therefore, was about far more than a clean windowsill.  Knowing it was of biblical origin, I sought out exactly where.  The phrase occurs many times in Deuteronomy and elsewhere, and refers to the Israelites, after their escape from Egypt and the ensuing years of wandering in the desert, being told to enter the Promised Land.  It’s a two-fold command; they were to go in, and they were to take possession of the country. 

It’s one thing to cross the border and say ‘we’ve arrived’ (Joshua, ch.4-5).  It’s another matter entirely to take possession of the place.  In fact, it could be argued, that was something the Israelites never properly achieved.  Their possession was undermined by all kinds of dealings and compromises with the peoples already living there, whereas God had told them to ‘totally destroy them’ (Deut. 20:16ff).  The early chapters of Judges tell of this disobedience.

So, when I arrived in my new home – nearly fourteen years ago – I went in.  To all intents and purposes, I was living there.   But I realise I wasn’t properly in possession of it.  I wasn’t exercising proper stewardship of the property in keeping it as clean as I would if it were my own, which is the ideal to which I suppose every landlord would like his tenants to aspire.  It would be good to think that the revelations of the last fortnight might make this happen.  Only time, and my prayerful dependence on God for his guidance and encouragement, will tell.

I’ve written here before about James’s examples of ‘oaks growing from acorns’ (James 3:3-5).  Who would have thought that a teaspoonful of brick-dust in the kitchen and a lick of paint in the ‘smallest room’ could overturn the bad habits of so many years?  God can work miracles in the lives of the common man, even today!

Whether we are talking about homes or lives ... are you in possession?  Or have you merely gone in through the door?