Derek Smith
Lead Pastor
Exodus 23:29-31
I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates
When God delivered the Children of Israel from Egyptian slavery He did so for a specific purpose. He freed them so they would possess the promised land. The promised land was a land full of giants and incredibly fortified cities which many considered impenetrable, but it was also a beautiful land overflowing with milk and honey.. When we think of the promised land typically we think of Heaven, but it is deliverance from Egypt that symbolizes our salvation. Conquering the promised land is a picture of the Christian life, it is symbolic of our sanctification in Christ and how we are called to appropriate the victory Christ has already won for us in our daily attitudes, actions, and decisions. It is a picture of sanctification, whereby the Spirit of God takes the Word of God and makes us more like the Son of God. Tucked away in Exodus 23 God tells Moses and the people of Israel how they would conquer the promised land. It wasn’t through one major battle. It wasn’t through one brief campaign. It wasn’t through some cataclysmic event. It would be conquered little by little over a significant period of time. This is how faith grows, little by little. So much of what is good in life comes to us little by little. We grow spiritually little by little. A family grows financially little by little. Our marriage grows stronger little loving act by little loving act. Our relationships with our children grow little quality interaction by little quality interaction. We want everything to happen overnight in a significant event. God says the stuff that matters grows little by little. Stop looking for the quick fixes and one time events to give you overnight what everyone else has had to discipline themselves to receive over a lifetime. Pray. Read the Word. Listen to the Spirit. Give. Serve. Obey God. Love your family. Make good decisions. Repeat. The promised land awaits those who go after it little by little.