There is a certain thing I used to find myself doing when I worked out—I would find myself "cheating" a bit toward the end of the workout. In other words, I would start getting a bit tired (and maybe even a little bored of the routine), and I would pay less attention to my form. I would sling the weights around instead of making careful movements. My workout form would become lax and careless. And as I grew older, I realized that is usually the exact point when I would pull or strain something. Even with the end in sight, I had to remember to be especially vigilant. Israel is in a similar spot in Joshua 16–17. This should be the easy time, when the land is allotted, and the last enemies are defeated. This half of the book should be rather easy going! But instead, God's people seem to lose sight of the end goal, and disaster comes from it. They leave enemies all around them, and it does not go well for them. This is not the sort of thing that only happens in ancient Canaan, either. There are a great many things in this world that tempt us to capitulate, to acquiesce, even to abdicate our calling. Christians think that we see the "end" in sight, or maybe we simply forget that we are running a race at all—and we falter and fall. Our goal is to remain faithful and alert, pressing toward the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus. Our prayer should be to run the race in a way that is faithful to Christ. "When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found: dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne."
