"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth, meditate on it day and night, and be careful to do everything written in it - then you will be prosperous and successful" Joshua 1:8
Here are some simple and important statements that you or someone in your family may have said. "I got my driver's license." "I passed my class." "I got that promotion." "She said, 'yes.'" "Honey, I sold the house!" "I finished everything on my list today and even had time to stop at KFC for lunch." "You know that toilet in the hall bathroom that was always leaking, well it doesn't leak now."
We often focus on the completion of tasks as success. We often find great satisfaction in getting the job finished. As a guy, I even see myself thinking, this will be worth it if Bev notices my accomplishment. The point is, we often view prosperity and success only in terms of completion. Now, I am not suggesting that any of us be lazy, be procrastinators, or bestanders waiting for others to do our jobs - but I do know that part of our success is in growth and development.
I love two little concepts in this verse - one is that the meditation would be "both day and night "- as in continually focussing upon God and His word. Not just part of the time, but all of the time. We can all grow in this area, just pointing ourselves toward what God's Word says much more often than we currently do. The second concept I like is "do everything written in it." This is reminding me to follow His word completely. Not picking and choosing which things I want - you know like being in the bakery and trying to figure out which pastry, which cookie, which piece of pie, which piece of cake I want above all the others. When we give our hearts to the Lord, we give it forever (that's the day and night part) and we give it unconditionally (that's the everything written in it part). God is good all the time, and as we pursue his word and pursue it consistently, we will see changes in our life.
