You are to divide the land into seven parts. Judah is to remain in its territory on the south and the tribes of Joseph in their territory on the north. 6 After you have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, bring them here to me and I will cast lots for you in the presence of the Lord our God. (NIV)

”It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.” (Rom.15:20)

I am taken by this idea of ”territory”.

‘There’s a work for Jesus none but you can do.’

There is a sense, I believe, in which each follower of Christ is allotted ‘land’. What I mean by this is that we are divinely granted certain spheres, roles, locations, areas of ministry, in keeping with our calling and gifting. If I can put it like this, ‘Peter’ is not to imagine that he is going to walk the same path as ‘John’ (John 21:20-22). But in God’s purpose, our various contributions are melded together into a glorious whole. It’s like when the diverse instruments in an orchestra, playing their individual parts, produce a harmonious symphony under the direction of a skilled conductor. It is not in the ‘territory’ of the piccolo, for example, to play the music allocated to the first violins. The Timpanist is to remain in his/her own territory, as is the clarinettist. But with their eyes upon the conductor, they must listen to one another, be aware of the other, and make glorious music.

”What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)

I can only speak personally here, but I’m grateful that in my years in church ministry, I have always had a sense that God put me in the town, city, village where I served; that it wasn’t merely a human appointment. I could have been elsewhere, but He put me here. Even now, in ‘retirement’, I don’t believe my wife and I can just arbitrarily choose where we would like to live. Jesus is now our ‘Shrine’ in these New Covenant days. He is our meeting place with God, and in Him we would ever want to say, ‘Your will be done.’

‘There’s a work for Jesus, ready at your hand,
’Tis a task the Master just for you has planned.
Haste to do His bidding, yield Him service true;
There’s a work for Jesus none but you can do.

Refrain:
Work for Jesus, day by day,
Serve Him ever, falter never; Christ obey.
Yield Him service loyal, true,
There’s a work for Jesus none but you can do.’ (From a hymn by Elsie Duncan Yale)