It is a land of promise, with possibilities of victory and failure. The first noteworthy thing about this land is that it is a land that needs to be possessed. There are many blessings but they need to be laid hold of, they need to be captured. Israel could have walked through the land of promise and seen it from end to end, but never once lived in it, never taken up residence there. And it is possible to drift through an entire year and never live in it.
Life is built like that in so many ways.
Time is not the only factor in living. There must also be an intelligent application of knowledge before the passing of time can be called living. There are many persons who are living in marriage, but they do not possess the joys of partnership because they are unwilling to put forth the effort in terms of courtesy, love, and thoughtfulness. There is many a student who is simply passing through his courses, but his courses are not passing through him, because he is unwilling to possess them through diligence and application. There are many who live near the land of health but who are unable to possess it because they will not accept certain forms of discipline or give up certain habits.