Every Place The Sole Of Your Foot Treads

Joshua 1:3 is powerful and it’s a verse I have been working through for years now.
It says this, in the NLT, "I promise you what I promised Moses: Wherever you set foot you will be on land I have given you."

A promise.
Where we set foot, it will be land He has given.

But "set foot" is different from how some of the translations read.
"Set foot" simply seems like "walking" to me.
Like - "You go on and it will be the land I am giving you."

But take a look at it in different translations:
"place you sole."
"every place the sole of your foot treads."
"every place the sole of your feet WILL tread."
"wherever you go."
"the land you WILL be MARCHING over."
"every place your foot falls."
"every spot you tread."
"every square inch your feet tread."

WOW.
There’s a difference!

This means - action.

Some of these say where I WILL PLACE MY FEET is the land He has promised.
This is not only a future promise, but it is one that requires action from me. A co-laboring.

I must PLACE my feet upon the land first.
I must MARCH over it.
And then every square inch of my action steps will be blessed by His promise of possession!

So becomes the question - What are some way we can “place our soles” upon the land He has given?
And some come to mind:
Obedience.
Immediately do what He says. This means giving Him our “yes” before we even know the question. When we sense in our spirit God is asking us to do something - we go! We don’t wait. We don't hold a prayer meeting about it. We don’t over complicate it by the ways we think. We just go. Many times throughout the bible we see people who acted “immediately.” Thinking even of the disciples who did this - they gave their “sold out yes” to Jesus without often fully understanding the implications. All because they knew that with Him they couldn’t fail.

Being proactive in our pursuit of Him.
Not waiting for someone “to pick us up out of our pit and into the water” similar to the man at Bethesda - who waited along the pool for someone to pick him up and place him in to find healing. We have to actively engage in what He’s trying to accomplish. Sometimes I think we rely too heavily on others to teach us, lead us, take us where we need to go. We wait for a Sunday morning sermon to find inspiration. Young people ride on the coattails of their parents’ faith thinking it will somehow translate to great personal faith in them, when it has to come from hard work of their own. It’s not a striving, but there is a responsibility and we have a duty to pursue Him for ourselves.

Being a leader and taking risks in faith.
Stepping out in faith. Trusting Him for the outcome. Relying ALL on Him for everything, but taking risks. For instance, I feel as though I have been practicing hearing from God for years. Sometimes I have been right and others times I have misunderstood what was being asked of me. Sometimes I have operated in strong faith, other times I have operated from a place of total weakness. But I have been willing. Willing to take risks in standing for God and my beliefs. Risks in looking silly in front of people who might not understand. Risks in selling out all for Jesus regardless of who comes along.

He has so much for us… the land of promise… but we will get only as much as we are willing to fight for, engage with, and take risks for.