The Key to Success

Keith Hancock - Worship Leader                            

Read Joshua 1:7-9

For some reason, I have always been drawn to Joshua 1:7-8.  From a teenager, I latched onto these verses as sort of life verses.  Debbie and I even named our son Joshua… with these verses and the character of this man of God in mind.

These verses clearly state how to be successful and prosperous in life!

Moses has just been buried, and Joshua is now the leader of this great nation of Israel… a nation that escaped from Egypt due to their great faith in God… and a nation that faltered in that faith and wandered aimlessly for 40 years.  Now Joshua is casting the vision for their next great adventure… going into the land promised to their forefathers.  This adventure is full of the unknown… enemies… and even fear.

First it tells us WHAT to do to be prosperous and have good success… “observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you”… and… “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth”.  Have you ever struggled to spend time in God’s Word?  I believe the enemy wants to keep us too busy for it… or distracted… or having other priorities… or even complacent about it.  There is power in spending time with God.  He is like a good dad that gave us an owner’s manual on how to do life… and be successful by His definition.

If you are struggling with finding time… JUST GET STARTED.  There was a season of life that I felt so busy I had to get creative to get time in the Bible.  I would get on my exercise bike and read the Bible on my iPad app while eating a bowl of cereal at the same time.  Crazy enough… those 4 minutes that it took to eat my breakfast… started nourishing my spiritual life as well.  I found myself interested in the stories and reading longer… and having more connection with God throughout my day.  That helped a lot… but it’s so much better when we can just sit quietly and read and soak it in.

Next, we are told HOW to be in His Word… meditate… be in it a lot (day and night).  It means to not just read words… but let them soak into your heart and mind. It tells us to observe to do all that is written there.  It warns us to not stray from its instructions (left or right). God’s Word is alive (Hebrews 4:12). Time with God impacts our minds… our mouths… our actions.  It defines who we are… and the outflow of our lives to others.

I challenge you (and myself) to make it a priority to spend some time in God’s Word.  Increase consistency.  Soak it in.  It… HE… will change your life.

Father God, thank you for loving us so much that you provided us beautiful instructions for how to have a successful and prosperous life.  A life where we can eventually hear those deeply desired words… well done, good and faithful servant.