Whenever I run across this verse in Proverbs, I always think of purpose and gifts:
Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense (Proverbs 12:11).
We have been discussing how God provides for you when you pursue your purpose. In the Old Testament, God gave His people a land inheritance as He saw fit. They worked that land and it was their source of life and income. In the New, God gives spiritual gifts and creative purpose along with the Holy Spirit who empowers them. He expects His people to "work" what He gives them to bear fruit.
Let's go back and look at the two tribes named after Joseph's sons as they entered the Land to see what we can apply to our New Testament mandate:
But Joshua said to the tribes of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—“You are numerous and very powerful. You will have not only one allotment but the forested hill country as well. Clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours; though the Canaanites have chariots fitted with iron and though they are strong, you can drive them out" (Joshua 17:17-18).
What Genesis Joseph did in Egypt had implications for his posterity, and God made sure his children and grandchildren were beneficiaries of Joseph's obedience and suffering. When they came into the Land, however, they were so numerous due to God's blessing that they needed more space than the others. So how did Joshua handle their need?
Joshua granted them more land—but it was forested. Therefore, if they wanted more to meet their needs, they were going to have to clear the land for themselves. In other words, they could be as big as they wanted or needed to be, but they had to do the work. They had to clear the trees; God and the other tribes weren't going to do the work for them.
The same principle is true for you. If you want a bigger business or a ministry that touches more people, you must do the work and clear your land. That means growing your capacity to handle more. That may mean going to school, or learning from others to see how they increased their portion of what God has for them.
This is just what the apostle Paul did, for God assigned him a work among the Gentiles and then he worked hard to visit as many places as possible, establish churches, and then nurture them to be healthy, growing members of the worldwide church, functioning long after he was gone. That was his "land" to work and true to Proverbs 12:11, he had plenty of food and fruit to show for it.
Where is your "forested land"? What work do you have to do to create more space for God's Kingdom to expand through you? What is your "land" and are you working it? Or are you 'chasing fantasies' by trying to be someone other than who God made you to be, or doing something that makes money but isn't connected to your purpose?
Taking down the trees was hard work, but once it was done, the tribes had room to live and grow—and bear fruit. May God show you where you can grow in your own purpose and then may you do the work that will produce the kind of fruit that will support both you, your family, and your family yet to come. Have a blessed week!
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