MEDITATE ON IT DAY AND NIGHT
“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful.” —Joshua 1:7-8
The material below is from “A Year With God”, by Dr Richard J. Foster
‘G O D ’ S W O R D S T O Joshua at the beginning of Joshua’s story suggest that effective leadership calls for concentrated meditation and musing on the law of God. This word was not to “depart” from his “mouth,” for mortals do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Deut 8:3). Like Joshua, we are to talk about the Word, think about the Word, and obey the Word (Ps 1:2-3). In a sense, every word from the Lord is also a call from the Lord. We read every verse of Scripture lovingly and attentively, because every verse is a potential summons from God. Perhaps when we read, we ought not to ask ourselves, “What do these words mean?” but “What is God summoning me to do through these words?”
Be guided by these words as you return to your meditation today:
“You must look up with the vision of the heart to the Person of Christ, and listen for the impress of His will on your will through His words, that is, through the Book of the Gospel that was written to be the means of communication with the souls of His people. As you become familiar with them He will by His Spirit bring them to your memory as you need them, to be your defense in the dangers of the way, even as David said in the Psalms: ‘Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee’ (Ps 119:11, KJV).”
—Lilias Trotter, The Way of the Sevenfold Secret’
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