“LIFE IN THE WORD”
Joshua 1:8
This book of
the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and
night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it;
for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
This body of instruction was given by the Lord to
Joshua the give to the people of Israel before going into the Promised
Land. It was intended to regulate their
life in the Lord. I can apply the
principle of this wonderful verse to my life and so can each of you. It can regulate our lives in the world. I see three major principles coming from the
heart of this brief but cogent gem of truth.
1. MY
CONCENTRATION ON THE WORD
Memorizing
it. “The Word shall not depart from
your mouth.”
Moses
said in Deuteronomy 6:6-9:
These words
which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart - and you shall teach
them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in you house
and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your
hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on
your gates.
One
can’t possibly accomplish this apart from committing Scripture to memory.
Meditating
on it. This is running Scripture
through your mind throughout your waking hours - chewing the Word like a cow
chews her cud - at well timed intervals.
2. MY
COMMITMENT TO THE WORD
“That
you might be careful to do all that is written in it.” This is pure and simple obedience to God’s
truth. James said, “Be doers of the
Word and not hearers only (James
1:22).” To do the Word is to take the
Word of God seriously.
3. THE
WORD’S COMMITMENT TO ME
When
I concentrate on the Word by memorizing and meditating on it- and I commit to
the Word by obeying it - then the Word makes a firm, twofold commitment to me.
My
way will be prosperous. Not easy,
but prosperous. Sometimes spiritual
prosperity comes with great difficulty.
I
will have success. Not riches - but
success from God’s vantage point. God’s
people had great success in the land, but at what a sacrifice! Often success comes through great
struggle. We, I, need to remember that
in the conflicts I am thrust into.
May God richly bless you as you contemplate life in
His Word.
Love to you all.