So you think you’ve arrived?

This blog is dedicated to my father, who truly has arrived after seventy-nine years of life on this earth. Until we meet again, Dad…

I’ve already mentioned this story in an earlier blog, but as I read the recap of this story, another thing strikes me.

The Reubenites, Gadites, and the people of the half-tribe of Manasseh (why don’t we say Manassehites?) had gained permission from Moses to settle on the land on the east side of the Jordan.

In other words, they weren’t staying in the promised land that God had prepared for the people.

But Moses had told them, “You may stay in this land and take it as your possession, but you must go ahead of your brothers across the Jordan to help them take possession of the land that is to be theirs. You are not to rest until they themselves have found rest in the land God is giving to them.”

And the Reubenites, Gadites, and the people of the half-tribe of Manasseh all agreed to do so.

The three tribes (well, two and a half tribes) had arrived. They had found their place. They had found their rest.

But their job was not over. God had commanded them to help those who had not arrived. And he commands the same thing of us.

None of us, of course, have truly arrived. All of us are continuing to press on forward to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12–14).

But there are some of us who are further along in our walk with Christ than others.

For example, some of us have learned how to gain victory in certain areas of our lives through the experiences we’ve gone through. And God wants us to help others gain victory in their lives too.

It’s interesting to me that Moses told those who had “arrived” that they were not just to go with the rest of the Israelites across the Jordan. They were to go ahead of them. They were to help lead and pave the way for them.

We are to do the same for our brothers and sisters in Christ who come after us.

How do we do that? By teaching them what we’ve learned. By sharing our experiences with them. By supporting them in prayer. By standing by their side in the fights that they go through in life.

Do you think you’ve arrived? Do you think you’re already mature as a Christian?

Remember two things:

Like Paul said in Philippians, none of us have truly arrived. We need to keep pressing on to be all that Christ has called us to be.

But to the extent that we have arrived, we need to reach out to our brothers and sisters, helping them along the path we’ve already traveled.

Of course, we should help them avoid the pitfalls that we’ve fallen into.

But we are also to help show them the paths of victory God has already revealed to us.