GOD'S WORD ALONE

Joshua 1:7, 8

“Be strong and very courageous.  Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.  Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

            Another source of Joshua’s strength and courage was God’s word.  Why was it so important for Joshua to obey the law God gave his people through Moses?  Why is his success pinned to keeping God’s word?  We need to keep a “big perspective” view of what was going on here.  God was working out his plan.  His ultimate plan was to produce a Messiah who would restore his people to a right relationship with him. 

            What God was doing at this time was creating a nation through whom he would bring this Messiah.  He was going to defeat his enemies and install his people in their land.  God revealed his law to Moses.  He wanted his people to live according to his law.  He wanted them to be the kind of people he created them to be and the only way that could happen was for them to obey his revealed law.  If Joshua was going to lead these people in the way God wanted them to go he would have to know God and the only way to know God was to know his law because God revealed his character through his law. 

            If Joshua walked away from the law of God then he walked away from God himself.  If he walked away from God then he would not have success.  So, in effect, God was saying, “Joshua, you will find the strength and courage you need by getting to know me well and by staying close to me.  If you are close to me I will give you success.”  So Joshua was to read the Book of the Law and meditate on its meaning and obey its commands.  This revealed God’s character and God’s way and he would find strength and courage by walking in God’s way.

          
            Is this the way we look at God’s word?  It seems like some people look at the Bible as a book of rules that dictates our lives.  Other people view the Bible as a series of interesting stories and fables that teach us lessons.  What do we believe about the Bible?  Our denomination’s website says this: We believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God. It contains all that people in any age need to know for their salvation. We call the Bible God’s Word, believing that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God speaks to us through this book.

             Just as God revealed himself to the Hebrews through the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai, God has revealed himself to his people, the Church, through the Bible.  If we read it and meditate upon it day and night we will know God better and we will be drawn closer to God.  When we live our lives close to God we will discover that he puts his will and his desires into our hearts.  We will discover that he gives us the strength and courage to do the very things he has commanded us to do. 

            When people of faith immerse themselves in God’s word they are shaped into the very likeness of Jesus Christ.  When people of faith live the word of God they receive the strength and courage they need to do God’s work.  I kept a journal for many, many years.  The journal was not designed to record the events of my days but my thoughts and reflections on my Bible reading.  I can look back in my journals and find record of the greatest failures and troubles in my life.  These passages show not only my hard times, they also show the periods of time when I was absent from the Word of God!  Invariably, my struggles and failures coincided with periods in my life when I failed to be faithful in reading the Bible and meditating on it.  Strength and courage come from spending time close to God in his word!