JOSHUA 1:7-8 :' KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL LIFE'

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 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 1:1-8)




When the children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land and after the death of Moses, God told Joshua (the successor of Moses) to lead the people to the Promised Land.


The passage of Joshua 1:7-8 is probably one of the most known Biblical passages and it is often misquoted.


The passage we are going to discuss is in Joshua 1:7-8. Let us study the passage line by line:


Verse 7 (a): “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left..”


Notice that God tells Joshua ‘be strong and courageous’. The encouragement was designed to help him face the people living in the Promised Land. However, I also believe that the exhortation is linked to the next part of the verse where God says: ‘ Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left.’

God tells Joshua to be careful and obey all the law without turning from it to the right or to the left. I have discovered that it takes courage to obey the entire Scripture without deviating from it.

Many people prefer to deviate or deny the validity of certain Scriptures because they lack the courage to obey them. As a result they are selective of the Scriptures contained in the Bible and they often debate their validity.

As an experienced Bible teacher, I can confirm the following: ‘it takes courage to accept all the verses in the Bible. It takes courage to embrace and follow all the teachings of the Bible. It takes courage and strength to obey the Scriptures.’


However, fear and personal preferences will make someone deviate from following the Scriptures. Fear and personal preference will lead many to dilute Scriptures, fear and personal preference make Christians to debate whether they should apply Scripture or not.


Verse 7 (b) says: ‘…that you may be successful wherever you go’. According to the Scriptures, success comes when we obey the Scriptures without turning left or right from it.



Verse 8 (a) says: ‘Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips’. The command was a reference to keeping the Scriptures on our lips by speaking or confessing it.


Verse 8 (b) says: ‘meditate on it day and night,so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.’. God wants us to think deeply about the Scriptures day and night so that we can be careful to do everything written in it.


Many times, people can’t apply the Scripture fully because they don’t meditate on them. In order to apply the Scripture carefully, we have to meditate on the Scripture day and night first.


I like the fact that God is specific by mentioning: ‘...to do everything written in it.’


We have to apply what is written in it. God never mentions that we should base our lives on worldly stuff or on human opinions but He places the emphasis on applying what is written in it. Because people of the world are now ascribing characteristics to God that are not written in the Bible. Many people falsely claim that certain practices are approved by God while they are not mentioned nor approved in the Scripture. Our reference is found in what is written in the Scripture, not in our opinion, not in our emotions and not in what is trendy.



Follow and apply what is written in the Scripture (even if your flesh does not like it) and you will have success.