Do Not Drop Your Intensity

Daily Devotional

Joshua 18:3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?

One of the dangers of success is that it can give place to complacency; that happens when success is viewed as an event. In that case the partial or full completion of a goal can result in the diminishing of the intensity given to that cause. That was evident with the Children of Israel in Joshua 18:3. 

After capturing Jericho and a number of the other lands in the vicinity, the rest of the land that God had promised was there for the taking. The Children of Israel, however, had some comfort as they were in the land of abundance and occupied a portion of it. It was not all that was promised to them but they could live with what they had.  Part of the problem is that the only way that they could possess the rest of the land that was promised, was that they would have to fight for it. Increase will not come without you fighting for it. Like most of us, the Children of Israel were more inclined to settle with less than what was attributed to them, than to go through the hassle of fighting for more that belonged to them. It was for this reason Joshua asked them the question, “How long will you slack your hand to possess the land which the Lord of your fathers had given to you.

Whatever your pursuit is, never forget that success flows in increments. It will not flow all at once. As you make progress, complacency could set in and you become less disciplined to practice the habits that will take you to the success you want and keep you there. It is important therefore that you become relentless in your pursuit. Rather than “slack your hand” let your initial success motivate you to push harder. Do not be satisfied with a portion of what the Lord has promised, take all of it.

Life Application: To avoid complacency the prudent thing to do is to enlist a friend or family as accountability partner to help to ensure that you do not drop your intensity.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me never to get complacent about the things you have for me. Help me not to settle for less than you have in store for me. In Jesus name, amen.