Joshua 13:23-28: in context

As the land is divided among the tribes, Reuben and Gad receive their inheritance east of the Jordan, in the territory that had belonged to Sihon and Og. This land they had asked for, back in the wilderness, because it was good for their many flocks and herds; they had requested to settle there rather than crossing the Jordan into the main land of promise with the rest of Israel. They received good land, suited to their needs; but it lay outside the land God had primarily promised, on the near side of the Jordan.

There is a quiet caution in the story of Reuben and Gad settling east of the Jordan. The land God had promised, the land toward which all their journey had been aimed, lay across the Jordan. But Reuben and Gad, seeing that the land on the near side suited their flocks, asked to settle there instead, outside the main land of promise. They received good land, and their request was granted; but they settled for the near side, for what was immediately suitable to their needs, rather than pressing on into the fuller inheritance across the Jordan. They chose the present convenience over the fuller promise. This holds a caution about settling for less than God's full inheritance. There is a temptation, on the way toward what God has promised, to settle for a lesser good that offers immediate convenience or suits our present needs, rather than pressing on into the fuller inheritance God offers. Like Reuben and Gad, we can find some near-side land that suits us, and settle there, content with a present good, while the fuller promise lies further on, across a Jordan we do not cross. We settle short, satisfied with a lesser inheritance, missing something greater that God had for us. This is a real danger in the life of faith. God calls us onward toward the fullness of what he has for us, and there is always the temptation to settle short of it, to be content with a present comfort or a partial blessing rather than pressing on into the fuller inheritance. Let us fear, Hebrews warns, lest any of you seem to have come short of entering his rest. The danger is not only outright rebellion but settling for less than God's full promise, stopping on the near side of the Jordan. This searches whether we are pressing on toward the fullness of what God has for us, or settling for a lesser good along the way. Are we content with a present convenience, a partial blessing, a near-side land that suits us, while the fuller inheritance God offers lies further on? Reuben and Gad settled east of the Jordan, for land that suited their flocks, rather than crossing into the fuller promise. And we too can settle short, content with less than God's full inheritance. Forgetting what lies behind, Paul says, I press on toward the goal. This calls us not to settle for less than the fullness of what God has for us, but to press on into the fuller inheritance he offers, rather than stopping on the near side, content with a present good while missing something greater God had for us across the Jordan.

Am I pressing on toward the fullness of what God has for me, or am I tempted, like Reuben and Gad who settled east of the Jordan for land that suited their flocks, to settle for a lesser good that offers present convenience while the fuller inheritance God offers lies further on, and can their choice caution me not to settle short, content with a partial blessing, but to press on into the fuller inheritance rather than stopping on the near side of the Jordan?