"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."
Joshua 1:8
Many people want success without having to pay the price for it. Today we revere the success of men like Thomas Edison who is famously known for inventing the light bulb. What we don't often realize is that he literally failed hundreds of times before he finally got it right. One of our greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, endured many disappointments before he finally reached the pinnacle of his career.
Most of us have a desire to be successful Christians and followers of Christ, and that is a tremendous pursuit. We have some heroes of the faith in front of us as examples that we aspire to follow. We see their success and their walk with the Lord, and we want to live like that. We want to know the apparent joy and seeming continual peace that they know. What we don't often realize is that there has been a life of walking with Christ that brought them to this point. They have put in the time and the effort, the prayers and the tears, and the study and the passion to get to where they are today. Many Christians want the success without the work and that is not the way life works at all. Our passage promises us prosperity and success, but you have to read, understand, and live out the first part of the passage to attain to the second.
The Word of God must be alive in your life. It is the truth that will sustain you from day to day. The first part of the verse is not a suggestion but a command. It "shall not" depart from you. There is no other option but to follow the Word of God. However, before we think that as long as we have it memorized and as long as we are reading it everything will be all right, read the next part of the verse. Meditation of the Word is a lost practice for many believers today. Meditation is studying the Word and then asking God to give us the wisdom to understand how that Word must be applied to our lives. Once we have meditated upon it and have a better understanding of it, well now it is time to go out and live it. Joshua was a man of action. He accepted God's Word for what it was and made every effort to apply it to his position of leadership and his personal walk. He understood the necessity of the Word. We want the Word to be a quick fix tool. The Word was meant to be read, to be studied, to be meditated upon, and then to be practiced. Only after these things are in place will we have and experience true prosperity and success.
May the Word come alive to you today!
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