This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest to observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shall make thy way prosperous, and then thou shall have good success. Josh1:8 Our thought life is a good
indication of our spiritual life. So
also is what we talk about. For
instance, Jesus never gossiped. He did
not use his time in conversation to talk about other people. He confronted people with praise or judgment
but he did not gossip. With people who
gossip, you know exactly what they think about.
Joshua is telling us to meditate on the word of God and put it into
practice. If our thought life is caught
up in other things, what people should or should not do, lustful things, like
money and sex, or manipulative and controlling things to get our way, we are
not spiritual. It follows that if we
keep our mind on worldly things we will not prosper or have good success. To rise above the mundane requires time to be
still and focus on God, the word, and silence.
For most in the world their thought life is like a stream of
consciousness moving from one thought to the next with little peace and little
insight. We may worry about the future
and have resentment for the past and want our way in life but to be spiritual
is to be still and wait on the Lord. It
is to have quietness and confidence. It
is to be in a position to prosper and have success. To do this we must take Joshua in this verse
quite literally and meditate. Awareness
is a great gift of spirituality. Examine
where you are and decide where you need to change. Learn the gift of stillness and guard your
words and put God's word into practice and you will be blessed indeed.
Amen |