40 Days of Encouragement

Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of Encouragement
Day 4 | GOD’S BOOK
GOD’S BOOK

Joshua 1:7-8
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”


After Moses dies, God speaks directly to Joshua and gives him a formula for being successful and prosperous.
 
First, God tells Joshua he must be strong and courageous. He doesn’t tell him how exactly, just to do it.

But then He gives Joshua a sort of road map and tells him to OBEY all the law (the Torah in Joshua’s day or today, we would say the Bible). In either period, we are to OBEY the Word of God. And Joshua was promised success and prosperity for him and his people by reading, speaking (“always on your lips”), meditating on and then doing the Word of God.

Notice the multi-fold admonition carefully: Read/speak God’s Word, MEDITATE on that Word, and then DO God’s Word.

It’s not enough for us today to just read a verse or a chapter here and there. That’s good and has its place. But it’s not the same as reading AND meditating on it and THEN doing it.

What do we mean by meditating on God’s Word? Well, in farming terms, it’s like when a cow eats some grass in the morning and then chews her cud (rechews that same grass) later in the day. We meditate on God’s Word by reviewing it in our minds throughout the day. Doing so makes our DOING God’s Word much more likely.

Prayer: LORD, help remind me to read, meditate, and then DO what You have given us in Your Word. I know my life will be better if I do. Amen.