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 good success.
As God anointed a new leader for the people of Israel, he gave to Joshua a very clear command and promise. If Joshua would obey this call of God, he would succeed. The call was neither complicated nor difficult. Joshua was to keep the law of God near him, meditating on it day and night. And if Joshua was careful to follow God’s commands, God would give him success.
God has made this promise to his people time and time again. The Lord made the same promise of success in his word to the kings of Israel, even calling them to write out their own copies of the word of God to study daily. In Psalm 1, God says that the man whose delight is in his law, who meditates on his law day and night, will be like a tree that flourishes and prospers. In Psalm 19, God says that his word revives your soul, makes you wise, rejoices your heart, enlightens your eyes, lasts forever, and is perfectly righteous. In Psalm 119:72, God tells us that his word is worth more than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
If God makes glorious promises of prosperity for those whose delight is in his law, why would we neglect it? If God tells us that his word is the greatest treasure that we possess, why would we treat it as a chore to open it, read it, meditate upon it, and study it? I dare say that if you believed that, this Sunday morning, if you attended church, you would hear the true voice of God, you would make it a priority to be in church. If you attend a church where the word of God is truly read and taught for what it means, you will hear the voice of God. The word of God is how he speaks to us. The preaching of his word is a way in which God has designed for his people to hear and be convicted by his word. Do not miss this opportunity.
Christians, the bottom line here is that God’s word is truly a treasure. We have the voice of God in the pages of holy Scripture. We have God’s will, God’s commands, God’s standards available to us. If we want to succeed, living lives that give us joy in the presence and glory of God, we will make his word a top priority. Do not neglect the word of god.
Pastor Travis Peterson 