Nothing is more mission critical in Christian living than the Word of God. Our game plans can never substitute for the unfailing Word of an all wise God. He knows what real victory is and how it is achieved. Israel was poised to possess the land. The wandering was past and conquest lay just across the river. The encouragements of Moses and the promises of God bolstered the spirits of a new generation. Everything their parent’s generation had forfeited by disobedience and discipline was about to be theirs by obedience and outpouring. The sweet smell of victory was already wafting through the camp of Israel.
Joshua, however, was painfully aware that failure and victory may be separated by a single bad decision. Those decisions now were his. “Moses My servant is dead,” (Josh. 1: 2) was God’s much needed reminder to the successor to the Lawgiver. Joshua knew all too well that even Moses had on occasion made poor judgments and the people had been guilty of misjudgment numerous times. Failure on the promised side of Jordan was not an option for the newly appointed general. How would such failure be avoided? How would Joshua take every square foot his sanctified foot stepped on (1: 3)? The resounding answer of God was – My Word! A triplet of truths about the Truth was presented to Joshua to enable him to enable the people to inherit the land (Deut. 1: 38; 3: 28).
There must be application of the Word. “Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction My servant Moses commanded you” (1: 7). God repeated this one to Joshua (1: 8). We must be doers of the word and not hearers only (Jam. 1: 22). An academic knowledge of the Word of God may be useful for many things but sustained spiritual victory is not one of them. Even the success of Great Commission living is inextricably tied to teaching others to “observe everything I (Jesus) have commanded you” (Matt. 28: 20).
There must be declaration of the Word. “This book of instruction (The Torah) must not depart from your mouth,” (1: 8) Joshua was told. The people would need the Word just as much as Joshua. It fell to him to communicate it to them. How easy it would be for Joshua to insist that a new day demanded a new message and consequently abandon the Word that had brought them safely thus far. Such “progressive thinking” would spell disaster for Israel and will spell disaster for Christians as well.
There must be meditation on the Word. Joshua’s dependence on the Word was so critical that God instructed him to recite (i.e. meditate on) it day and night (1: 8). Our very happiness in life is directly traceable to such unceasing meditation on the Word of God (Ps. 1: 2). Reciting the Word to ourselves repeatedly in meditation is an unexcelled method of wringing out of the scriptural sponge every drop of divine truth hidden there. No discipline yields more satisfying learning than mediation on the Word. Together with application and declaration, meditation is certain to enable us to win with the Word.