December 16, 2009 (Joshua 1-8)

After the death of Moses, God put Joshua in charge. After promising to be with him, here were His words to Joshua:

^{Joshua 1:8} "Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. ⁹ This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

I have to think God's words to Joshua apply to us today. The technological age has certainly helped in many areas, such as being able to communicate in war time with those thousands of miles away. But it has also served as a distraction. How many of us take God's words to Joshua to heart - to study God's word continually? To meditate on it day and night? How often do I do my "quiet time", do my blog, and then go on my merry way, not mulling over what I have just written? Not ending my day in His word again? We want to be prosperous and successful? What does God say? Only then - only if we do these things.

There were lots of other lessons learned in my reading for today, not the least of which is that our sin affects others (Achan stole things that were set apart for God, and not only did he steal them, he lied about them and went to great lengths to hide them.) Because of that sin, the Israelites were unable to defeat their enemies. Once his sin was discovered, he and his family were killed. God went to great lengths to show His people that He would not tolerate sin. I think today, we take "rely" on grace too much. Because Jesus brings freedom and grace, we don't take our "walk" seriously. We don't spend the time seeking Him and His will as we should. We live lives that aren't really that much different from anyone around us.

So again, I'll end with what I started with, and will mull this over the rest of the day and try to implement just this one concept into my life.

^{Joshua 1:8} "Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.