Title: One Key to Success for 2024
Text: Joshua 1:8
Doctrine / Teaching:
Response: For hearers to be encouraged to keep God’s word at the center of their lives in 2024
I. INTRODUCTION:
Probably by now you have heard of the key to weight loss in 2024, the latest and greatest discovery that will help you lose weight while you eat as much as you want of anything you want, and of course, without much exercise; You probably heard of the key to help you make lots of money without working much, etc. Right? I think many of us have heard these kinds of things.
But this morning, I would like to share with you not one of these “magical, secret keys” to success in any area, but a proven principle that is found all throughout the Bible and which has helped God’s people successfully follow God’s plan for their lives and bring glory to Him. The principle is simply this: keeping God’s word at the center of our lives.
II. SCRIPTURE:
“8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.” -Joshua 1:8, CSB
III. EXPLANATION:
After the Israelites were set free from slavery and left Egypt, they started a journey for a land God promised. This journey should have taken 11 days but because of the Israelites’ rebellion and lack of trust in God, it took 40 years.
During these 40 years, Moses was their leader. But Moses passed away before the Israelites reached the promised land. Now that Moses was gone, God appointed Joshua to lead the people into the promised land. And in our passage, we find some instructions that Joshua must obey if he is to be successful in leading the people of Israel into the promised land.
Joshua had a new beginning, a new opportunity before him and with the start of a new year, so do we. Maybe none of us are called to lead thousands of people in a journey to a new land but each of us has been called to a journey of following Jesus.
Just as God wanted Joshua to be successful in his journey, God wants us to be successful in our journey. And the same principle of keeping God’s word a priority, at the center of our lives that God wanted Joshua to obey, applies to us today.
From our Scripture we find that…
II. God wants us to keep His word at the center of our thoughts
EXPLANATION:
In our passage, God told Joshua to meditate on the book of instruction day and night. This book of instruction, or book of the law, was the record of the revelation and commandments God had given to Moses. This book was the word of God Joshua had at the time. Of course, the Bible as we now have it, contains the book of instruction that Joshua had and much more.
Biblically speaking, to meditate means to “read quietly or to talk to yourself as you think about something.” It includes carefully studying God’s word in order to understand it and put it to practice.
Some religions view meditation as a way to empty the mind...but biblical meditation calls us to fill our minds with God's word.
The success and prosperity promised to Joshua in our passage does not refer to the way some view success today. When some think of success today, images of material possessions come to mind.
While there is nothing wrong with material things, success in God’s eyes is measured by our obedience to Him and His purposes for our lives. And material prosperity (simply have more than we need) is provided by God as we seek first His kingdom. God is Faithful and Able to provide for our needs and often our desires as we follow Him.
APPLICATION:
God's word is God's special revelation to us. We learn much about God and His truth through reading the Bible. When we read, think about God's word, we are programming ourselves to think the way God wants us to think.
As we sow the seed of God’s word in our minds and hearts, our attitude towards life, and our behavior comes more aligned with God and His eternal wisdom. When God's word takes root in our lives our values begin to change and we begin to reflect more of God’s values.
For example, when it comes to possessions, we will love people and use things instead of loving things and using people. And we will remember the words of Jesus that “life does not consist in an abundance of possessions”
When we face challenging situations, instead of being overcome by fear and worry, we will have faith that God will help us through whatever we might face. We will remember God’s promises of His Presence, help, and answered prayers.
If at times we feel discouraged and alone, we can be encouraged by meditating on some of God's promises of comfort, strength and joy in the midst of difficult circumstances.
When faced with conflicts in our relationships, instead of seeking revenge and paying evil for evil, we will have the power to extend grace and forgiveness to others, just as God has done with us.
Writing to Christians, the Apostle Paul wrote in Col. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. When our minds are set on things above, we begin to place more value on eternal things than on temporal ones.
Only with a renewed mind, a mind that is programmed with the thoughts of God, are we able to have success in our journey of following Jesus faithfully. When we meditate on God’s word, we are able to relate to ourselves, other people, the world, the church, and God in the way He wants us to.
If we are going to have a successful 2024, by God’s standards, it is critical that we keep His word at the center of our thoughts, but it is also important that we obey God’s word.
In our passage we also find that...
III. God wants us to let His word govern our actions…
EXPLANATION:
God told Joshua that He was to "be careful to do everything written in it" In this book of instruction.
Right before Jesus ascended to heaven, He told His earliest followers to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
Jesus wanted His earliest disciples to pass along His teachings so that they could be obeyed by everyone who believed in Him. In the New Testament, we have what Jesus’ commands for His disciples and what the Holy Spirit inspired others to write, for example, the writings of the Apostle Paul.
APPLICATION:
God wants us to read and meditate on His word, but He also wants us to practice it, to do what it says. The Bible is said to be the Christian's rule of faith and practice. From it we determine what we believe, but also from it, we learn what God wants us to do.
There are many things in the Bible for us to do. For example:
Love The Lord your God with all our mind, soul and strength
Love our neighbors as ourselves
Pray always
Forgive others as God has forgiven us
Go and tell others about Jesus
Set our minds on things above and not on things of the earth
Be good stewards of our time
Give of our resources to God and His work on this earth
Bear each other’s burdens
Use our gifts in ministry for the glory of God
These are things that sometimes we know, but do we do them? In James 1:22 , the Bible says “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says”
We read and hear about the wonderful blessing of prayer, but many times, we simply neglect it.
Or some know that the Bible calls us to use our time wisely, yet sometimes, we pay little attention to how we are using our time.
We can learn great truths from the Bible, but until we act on them, they will not bring glory to God and benefit to us. God wants for us to make it a point to do both, fill our minds with God’s word and also act on His word.
IV. Conclusion:
I would like to ask you, what is one thing you can do this year to help you keep God’s word at the center of your life? If you are not used to reading the Bible on a regular basis, I suggest you start by reading one small portion a day, maybe start in the Book of John. Most Bibles have divisions within the chapters that are helpful for readers to read complete thought units without reading the entire chapter.
You might wish to read a chapter a day. Or you might like to read the entire Bible in 2024 in a structured, guided approach. As you might have heard, we have some bookmarks that we will be sharing at the end of each month, with prescribed chapters for each day, and at the end of 2024, you will have rea
However, you approach it is not for us to simply go through the Bible, but for the Bible to go through us.
Just like Joshua had a new opportunity before Him, I believe that 2024 is a new opportunity for us. A new opportunity for us to keep God’s word at the center of our thoughts and actions. By doing this, we will have a successful year as followers of the Lord Jesus.
Prayer
