Joshua 1: 7-8
Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the Law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have sucess wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Proverbs 17: 20b
... And he who is perverted in his language falls into evil.
So often I find God repeating what He really wants us to understand. Over and over I read that we are to be careful to do everything He has told us to do. We must pay attention and put forth the effort to do what we know He's told us is right.
When we're not paying attention, it's easy to just slide off the course and fall into evil. It's easy. It's when we're not being careful to do what is right, is when we end up in trouble.
But to be successful and prosperous, we can follow and obey God's rules for living. He knows what we need to survive and prosper on this Earth He made for us. And He's given us the blueprint for success in His written Word.
Jesus said that when we seek His Kingdom and Righteousness as our first priority, then He would see to it that we will receive all the material resources of this World, also (Matthew 6:33).
But we need to expend the energy to be carefull and pay attention.
O my Father, as humans we are so prone to going our own way. You have given us intelligence, and we think we're smart enough to decide for ourselves. This was the sin of Eve, who thought she was doing a good thing.
But You told us to reason with You, to allow You to cleanse us of all our sin and rebellion, to be as white as snow, as though we'd never sinned (Isaiah 1:18). This is how we can be perfect, fit to live with You in Heaven.
This is the only way we can be pure enough to dwell with You where You live, to allow Your Lamb to be our personal Sacrifice, to take our place in death so that His blood, splashed on the sides of His altar, the Cross, can wash us from every shadow of a stain of sin. This is the only way.
This is why You sent Your Son, our Lord Christ Jesus--to be our Sacrifice. All Your laws were given to show us what Jesus would accomplish, as He fulfilled all the Law and the Prophets. So we need to pay attention to what You have told us, Father. Your written Word is Your love-letter to Your dear children.
When we are careful to pay attention to Your Word, and believe You, and trust You to be Who You are and to do what You said You would do, and we order our thinking processes and our daily lives according to Your thoughts for us--then we will be able to peacefully enjoy all the benefits as we are successful and prosper in this World, and live with You in Your Heaven forever.
And You will receive all the credit, all the glory, because this is how You designed it in the first place.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
