This is Felicia Ferguson with Christian Mix 106, helping you build faith for the journey.
When we were school-aged children, our teachers taught us that if we wanted to be successful in life, we would have to study. In the scripture, God tells Joshua the same thing in Joshua 1:8. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; 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. The interesting detail is Joshua himself. As a member of the tribe of Ephraim, he wasn’t a scholar or a priest. He was a soldier and Moses’s handpicked aide. Joshua was one of the twelve spies Moses sent out to reconnoiter the Promised Land after the Israelites left Egypt.
When Joshua takes on his new role of leader of the twelve tribes and heads into the Promised Land to win it for his people, God tells him to study. But to study what? Battle strategies? The strength and weaknesses of his enemies? No, God tells him to study, follow, and practice what is written in the Book of Law. And not only that, God promises Joshua if he does this that he will be prosperous and successful.
I don’t know about you, but the idea of being prosperous and successful sounds pretty good to me. Can spending time in God’s word really be that result?
The book of Proverbs was written during the days of King Solomon. A man who asked for and received the gift of wisdom, Solomon was fascinated by its impact on humanity. Proverbs 3:1-2 encourages the reader to remember his teaching and keep his commands so he would have long, peaceful and prosperous life.
In New Testament times, Jesus recognized the need to study God’s word and as a teenager stayed behind in Jerusalem at the synagogue so he could learn. Later, he would tell his disciples that if His words lived in them, they could ask for whatever they wished and it would be done. Even the apostle Paul encouraged the Roman church to study the Word of God. “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4 NIV).
So are you feeling successful? Wise? Does your faith have endurance? Are you feeling encouraged? If the answer is no, try turning off the news, closing down social media, and instead spend that time reading and studying the Bible. God will meet you there with wisdom, endurance and encouragement. Because he said he would. And he is faithful to keep his word.
This is Felicia Ferguson. Thanks for listening to Christian Mix 106.
