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. ~ Joshua 1:8


We can be obedient because we feel that is the way we are expected to behave, or forced to behave, or we can be obedient because we have learned to trust in our Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is good to know the Word of God, to know the power found in the Gospel message. Jesus is the message. He is love, grace, faithfulness, and Truth. Jesus is healing and compassion, he is a storyteller and a Teacher. In all these roles found in Jesus’ life, obedience was one of his foremost strengths. But, he did not obey by proving he could, he obeyed because he loved his Father, and his obedience naturally followed. We can memorize the word of God and keep it on our lips and in our heart, while also be judgmental and self-righteous. This is not the type of obedience God desires. God spoke to his people, Israel, through Joshua to remind them that life is found in their God and life is found in obeying him. What they, and we sometimes, tend to forget is that obedience derives out of love, not out of fear and especially not out of showing how we may “look good” to others. Our prosperity and success is found by trusting the God who gave us his word that he would save us, love us, justify us, and display mercy and grace toward us. We are to read, to pray, to study God’s word, while also being observant to do what gives God glory through our life. Yes, we are to do these things, but we are to put God first in love and others next. Love is always the key ingredient to our faith in God and to our obedience.

Pastor Julia

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