This is another excuse for why many Christians do not read their Bibles. Please go with me to the first chapter of Joshua.
Moses had died. Joshua was the new leader about to lead a whole generation into the land of Canaan. Joshua was about to undertake the task of his life and God let him know that it was not going to be easy. God could have spared a few of His angels to come and fight the battles that the Israelites would have to face but instead this is what God told Joshua:
This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success. - Joshua 1:8 (AMP)
The key to Joshua's success as a leader was not going to come as a result of him sitting down and hoping or simply praying that God would help him. God let Joshua know that he would have to take an active role in his own success by :
Moses had died. Joshua was the new leader about to lead a whole generation into the land of Canaan. Joshua was about to undertake the task of his life and God let him know that it was not going to be easy. God could have spared a few of His angels to come and fight the battles that the Israelites would have to face but instead this is what God told Joshua:
This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success. - Joshua 1:8 (AMP)
The key to Joshua's success as a leader was not going to come as a result of him sitting down and hoping or simply praying that God would help him. God let Joshua know that he would have to take an active role in his own success by :
- Not allowing the Law (God's Word) to depart from his mouth
- meditating on the Word of God day and night, and
- obeying whatever was written in it.
This is God's standard and the standard has not changed. Many of Christians suffer unnecessarily and live in continual defeat because of the failure to engage God's Word on a daily basis. His blueprint for life and the answer to life's deepest questions all lie in the Bible and yet how many of us spend even 10 minutes with the Word in a day ? The complaint might be "I am too busy and I have no time".
Imagine this scenario : you wake up one morning and Jesus Christ is sitting in your living room. You see Him but you utter a quick "good morning" and mention something about being late for work. You go about all your duties for the morning and then rush off to work without saying anything else to Him. You come back in the evening and He is still sitting there. You mention something about getting the children to soccer practice and of course, He can understand that you need to spend time with your family and so you leave Him sitting there. You make dinner, you watch the evening news and finally you get to bed and all this while Jesus Christ has been sitting in your living room totally ignored.
It sounds improbable right ? Ridiculous, even ! Yet day in and day out , we do the same thing by not making time for His Word. Seminars and church conferences once or twice a year are great (I personally love church camps and conferences and when I have the opportunity I do not pass them up). However, living the abundant life on a daily basis will come as you practice the basics of daily engaging the Word of God. Looking for a successful spiritual life ? A successful marriage or family ? Get back to the basics of reading your Bible everyday and then practicing what you learn !
2 comments:
So true. Exactly why I need to create some new habits. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Colleen, we are all always in the learning process ! God bless you.
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