More Than One Share
You will have not only one allotment.
Joshua 17:17 (NIV)
Joshua answers Ephraim-Manasseh complaints with generous challenges: you are numerous and powerful — you will have not only one allotment. Complaining scant lots while many; Joshua returned responsibility with promises: clearing forests, driving Canaanites, widening borders. Larger inheritances demand larger efforts — God gives but commands conquering.
Joy claiming less, conquering more. Joseph whined over lots; Joshua offered forests. Many live dissatisfied with portions while forests await axes: jobs, ministries, relationships unexplored from laziness. God rarely enlarges portions of non-cultivators. More than one share for axe-wielders.
Grabbing your axe today: clearing one forest — courses, diets, stalled projects. More than one share: God gives forests to complainers-turned-workers.
Axes in hands beat complaints in mouths. Working today singing. Forests await brave axes. Fell today your first hectare. Sharpened axes fell entire forests eventually. Sharpen yours today through discipline and prayer. Laziness rusts idle axes. Work singing daily. Singing workers outlast grumbling drones. Hum hymns over stumps. Joyful labor lightens heavy loads. Celebrate clearings loudly and often. Keep chopping. Partial conquests encourage total victories. Mark progress visibly today. Stump by stump forests fall. Persist steadily.
And celebrating every clearing: partial conquests cheer total battles.