«　WEEK 1　DAY 1　»

　　Josh. 14:1-2 And these are what the children of Israel received as inheritances in the land of Canaan…by the lot of their inheritance…

　　Col. 1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light.

　　2:6 As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him.

　　These two main points—to take the land for Christ and to provide the bona fide ancestors for Christ—are the spirit of the history from Joshua to Ruth. Since the God-promised land is a type of Christ, to gain the land for Christ means to gain Christ for Christ.

　　It was a fact that God had given the land to Israel, but this fact was not yet practical. Rather, it was a promise that still needed to be fulfilled….Only after Israel had gained the good land and had taken possession of it did the land actually become theirs as a practical fact.

　　The principle is the same with the preaching of the gospel today. God’s salvation has been promised, prepared, and completed in Christ and with Christ….God wants to give salvation to sinners, but they need to respond to Him by receiving His gift of salvation…. Actually, to receive God’s salvation is to do God a favor. If you know the heart of God, you will realize that whenever a sinner repents and receives Christ, that sinner is doing God a favor. (Life-study of Joshua, pp. 31-32)

　　At the beginning of the book of Joshua, Israel was ready to go forward, to take the good land, to possess it, and to enjoy it. For Israel to do this meant that they were doing something for Christ, who is typified by the good land….Today, Christ as the good land is ready to be taken and possessed by His believers. However, where are those who are ready to take Him, possess Him, and enjoy Him as the all-inclusive good land?

　　Our need today is to gain more of Christ, to possess more of Christ, and to experience more of Christ….This is not only for our enjoyment but also for Christ to be what He should be…. We gain Christ for Christ so that He may have His corporate expression. This is to make the good land the land of Immanuel (Isa. 8:8)….Paul was one who struggled to pursue Christ in order to gain Christ (Phil. 3:8,12)…. Because so many Christians do not pursue Christ in order to gain Him, God needs the overcomers.

　　As early as the first century, the Lord came in to call for overcomers (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 20-21; 21:7), and today He is still sounding out the call for the overcomers. Nevertheless, even among devoted Christians it is hard to find some overcomers, some who are pursuing Christ in order to gain Him.

　　At the time of Joshua, there were two or three million Israelites, but there were not many Joshuas and Calebs. There were not many endeavoring ones, genuine pursuers of God. Without such ones both the good land and the Giver of the land would have been idle. Both the land and the Giver of the land needed certain ones to take the land, possess the land, and enjoy the land. Those who possessed the land did a favor to the One who gave them the land.

　　We today need to take and possess the land for Christ. We need to gain Christ for Christ. If we do this, we will do Christ a favor. However, if we go on living a routine Christian life and church life, we will not be able to gain the land for Christ. For this, God needs some overcomers. There are millions of real Christians on earth today, but where are the overcomers? God is calling for overcomers, but who will answer His call? Who will respond to God’s call by pursuing Christ in order to gain Christ? I hope that many among us will do Christ a favor by responding to God’s call for overcomers. (Life-study of Joshua, pp. 32-35)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Joshua, msg. 6