Meditate On and Be Guided By God's Word

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. 
— Joshua 1:8

With the death of Moses, Joshua prepared the children of Israel to enter Canaan. God counseled Joshua by telling him to be strong and courageous, to meditated on God's commands and to do them.

The people knew Joshua was the right man to lead them. In the past, Joshua had proven his trust in God. When Israel's twelve spies were sent to quietly explore Canaan prior to the Israelites' entry, most of the spies were afraid the Canaanites would defeat them, even going so far as to describe the inhabitants as giants. Only Joshua and Caleb expressed confidence that God would assure their success in taking the land (see Numbers 13-14). All of Israel must have remembered the trust of Joshua and Caleb on that day, because their presence afterward was a constant reminder. After forty years in the wilderness, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones from their generation that God permitted to live and to enter the promised land.

But as God passed the mantel of leadership to Joshua. Joshua must have had doubts in his own leadership skills. He must have worried whether he would always do the right thing. God bucked him up, reminding Joshua to be strong. But more importantly, God directed Joshua to the foundation on which he must build everything that came after—God's very words.

Don't let the wording in your Bible translation mislead you. This passage is not a prediction of what is to come. Rather, it is a command from God to Joshua of what he must do and what will result if he does it. Think of the passage like this.

“Do not, for one minute, let My words, out of your speech or your actions. Meditate and reflect on them day and night. Base all that you do on all I have given you. If you do, you will prosper and have success.”

Joshua took seriously God's advice and he was successful because of it, leading the Israelites to take the land God had promised to Abraham. God's advice to Joshua is also excellent advice for us. Do you want to prosper and have success? Meditate on and be guided by God's Word.

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