STEPPING INTO OUR FUTURE - PART 4

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8)

You will, you will the writer says! This is a declaration of the availability of success as we step into your future if we will hear and do what God is saying!

This week we will talk briefly about the place of the Word in our life. Next week we’ll discuss “success and prosperity” (Sorry, but you have to wait!).

I think you know how much I love the Word. The model of my dad’s approach to the Word has a lot to do with my appreciation of the Word and its place in my life.

I don’t understand fully how the Word works in my life….I just know it does. Hebrews 4:12 says. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

I don’t really understand how cattle can eat grass or grain in the middle of a North Texas pasture and then a few days later that cow (or one of his/her close relatives) can end up on my plate in the form of a steak. The concept of grass to steak escapes me and frankly I not going to pursue it. The principle is the same with the Word….I don’t know exactly how it works its work in me…I just know it does. The Word of God is alive and full of the spiritual nutrients that we need. When we get it in us, it works in us whether we realize it or not. I like the way the Amplified Bible speaks to this in 1 Thessalonians 2:13

“And we also [especially] thank God continually for this, that when you received the message of God [which you heard] from us, you welcomed it not as the word of [mere] men, but as it truly is, the Word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe [exercising its superhuman power in those who adhere to and trust in and rely on it].” (Amplified Bible)

You don’t have to be a theologian to understand this. The key issue is that you put a value on the Word and that’s what I learned from my dad. Morning after morning as I came into the kitchen I saw my dad prioritizing his day by putting a value on the Word and its place in his life.

Honestly, there are some days I read the Bible and when I’m finished I have no idea what I just read and that used to bother me but not anymore and here’s why. My wife is a wonderful cook but not every single meal she prepares is a 5 star culinary delight nor does it need to be. I know I need to eat a couple of times a day and if I don’t then weakness starts to set in. So sometimes I just eat something not because it’s a culinary delight but because I know I need to. I need to eat something because I need to have the energy and nutritional value the food provides.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth”

In extremely simple terms “the mouth” has 2 basic functions. Inhaling and exhaling. We take in food, air, water through the mouth. We exhale used air and speak words through the mouth. (Unless you are on the Grand Ole Opry and then you sing through your nose) This passage is telling us that we should be doing the same with the Word. We must not just be taking it in, we need also to be exhaling it through the confession of our faith in Jesus and through prayer.

It is my opinion that we have many Christians today that have never put a proper value on the Word. Fast food eating is not going to cut it if we are looking for full life nutritional value. I know people who only read the New Testament; others who will only read certain parts of the Old and New Testament that have an appeal to their appetites. This is pathetic, fast food Christianity and then they wonder why their lives are such a mess. I don’t suggest that everybody do it like I do but it is a good pattern. I have started at Genesis 1:1 and read to the last verse of Revelation many times and will again. There are some extremely good daily reading guides that are available and a wonderful variety of translations, so there is really no excuse for not getting the Word into us.

The primary issue is that we put a value on the Word. We tend not to put things in our mouth that we don’t value. (except, of course, my foot which from time to time ends up in my mouth). Maybe we could entitle this devotional “Eat your way into the future”.