“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” Joshua 1:8-9
“And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:” 1 Kings 2:3
As a Christian, success and prospering is easy to shy away from out of fear of pride. We also don’t want to sound like “prosperity preachers”. In that sense, it is easy to try and write off success and prosperity. On the other hand, it is easy to chase after it. We easily desire the comforts temporary success (as culture defines it) brings, the status it brings us, or even the obsession to turn a calling from God into a success story (according to our own definition–not God’s).
I don’t know about you, but I can fall into either camp (maybe even both at the same time). I am afraid to run after things because I don’t want to be prideful or “prosperity gospel minded”. But if I am painfully honest, I deeply desire success. The very culture we live in drives success.
- I want to be successful in raising my kids
- I want a successful marriage
- I want to prosper financially
- I want to have successful friendships
- I want to have successful relationships with my family and the community
- I want to prosper in my talents and gifts
- I want to succeed in living a comfortable life
While none of these things are bad, we have to see what we are building them on. How do we balance our selfish desires with things that actually meet God’s desires for us? After all He has given us gifts to use and He wants us to use them. He delights in us, so as image bearers I believe we have the freedom to delight in what He has created!
Joshua 1:9 has always been a favorite verse of mine: I will be with you wherever you go! It is so comforting to me to know that I am not going to screw up and make God mad. He will be with me in the decisions I make. As I was reading through the whole chapter of Joshua 1, I noticed God not only talks about going with us wherever we go, He also says we will be successful and prosper!! 1 Kings mirrors this saying you will prosper wherever you turn!
While this is exciting to think about, what is it proceeded by? God says keep my ways and commandments! Love my Word! Bask in it ALL this time! Meditate on it–let it consume you.
How easy is it to get this confused? I know it is easy to want to claim God’s promises but skip over what He asks of us. I can easily get overwhelmed when I think about what God asks of us. The Bible is so big! So much information, how can I possibly do it all? What are God’s commands? God’s Word is big and huge, but it is also very simple and profound. So where does the balance come from? I believe it comes from being immersed in God through the Holy Spirit, and His Word. We don’t have to understand it all, but we do need to walk in the Spirit and love the Word.
Then there is also the basics of the gospel: Jesus died to save you (John 3:16). We are sinners from birth (Romans 3:23) There is consequences for our actions (Romans 5:12). Our consequences were paid on the cross. From Jesus’ death came forgiveness, justification, and grace–freely when we believe and seek forgiveness! (Romans 5:15-21). Forgiveness always comes with the cross. The Spirit then comes to live in our heart teaching and correcting us (John 14:26). We are no more under condemnation–we are FREE! (Roman’s 8:1-2) We are lead by the Spirit, we don’t have to fear (Romans 8:14).
When we constantly build from this foundation we can run in His commandments:
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40
This command is repeated over and over in all the Bible–Old and New Testament. When we love the Lord over everything else– we will want to be like Him. We will want to follow Him, we will want to respond to His call, we will want to read His Word. The Word and His Spirit are intertwined. Jesus says this to a Sadducee that was challenging Him:
“Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” Matthew 22: 29
When we get so focused on all the answers to our questions, when we obsess about how to live out our calling–the exact things God wants from us– we miss the beauty in Scripture. We miss seeing Jesus and God’s ways for what they are. We miss delighting, desiring, and loving Him with our whole heart when we become more focused on things than Him. But on the flip hand, when we love Him with our whole heart, we will grow in our knowledge of Him. He will open our eyes to Him and His ways all around us. We do not have to fear, as we grow in love for Him.
When we make this commandment our top priority we will be running on the right path. He just asks us to trust Him for the outcome, the success, the prosperity that HE gives (not what we think we deserve or want). We can trust Him to guide us even when we don’t feel His guidance. We can trust Him for strength when we feel incredibly weak.
As we walk this path of life in all its confusion and fear–we must always be anazlying our heart for this main thing: Love the Lord Your God with your WHOLE heart, mind, and strength. From this flows everything else.
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