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"Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go."
(Joshua 1:7)
The law is a reference to the first 5 books of the Old Testament; that was the Word of God for them at that time. Today, we have 66 canonical books in our Bibles, and those are the sacred words that we Christians cherish, believe, and seek to live by and obey.
One writer commenting on our text states, "This command is based on God's power through His Word. This is a stronger exhortation, indicating that greater strength of character would be required to obey God's Word faithfully and fully than to win military battles! The emphasis in these verses is clearly on a written body of truth." (Source: Campbell, D. K. (1985). Joshua. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 329).)
We cannot obey and be blessed by what we do not read and internalize. It is vitally important in our walk with God to read the Bible, meditate on it, and then do what it says to do.
I interviewed Dave Carey on my podcast last month. Dave has quite the story; you can watch my interview with him here on the REvangelical podcast. A mutual friend, Barry, introduced Dave to me. Someone said a good friend is someone who shares their friends. I am very glad that Barry did so. He attended the Naval Academy and was trained as a pilot. He flew many missions over Vietnam during the war. He was shot down and captured almost immediately. For 5.5 years, he lived as a POW in the "Hanoi Hilton", where he and the future Senator and presidential candidate, John McCain, shared a cell together for 6 weeks. He said he was isolated, tortured, and beaten. At one point, he could not use his arms and had to crawl on his stomach and eat his rice by burying his head in the bowl. When he was 11-years-old, he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior in a Baptist church outside Pittsburg, PA. When he was at his lowest point in prison in Vietnam, the Holy Spirit brought back to his mind a verse from the Bible, Psalm 23:1, which says, "The LORD is my shepherd."
Those sacred words written by David through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit gave Dave the resolve and hope to be strong and courageous and continue on. God's Word is so very powerful. |
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