Results of Meditation

Joshua was the man God chose to lead His people across the Jordan and into the Promised Land. In God’s challenge to Joshua He said, “This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Here is a tremendous promise related to Christian meditation. I say “Christian” to distinguish it from the various types of eastern meditation that are out there today. In order to meditate on Scripture, we have to take it in, perhaps memorize it and then spend time mulling it over and over in our mind, thinking about what it means and how it applies to our situation. This is not an easy thing to do in our culture that is so visually oriented and busy. But learning to do this has great rewards.

The first thing we see is that meditation on God’s Word will help us to observe and do all that is in it. God has given us His word to be followed and obeyed. Meditating on it helps us to do that.

Second, Joshua was promised that his way would be prosperous and he would have good success. Of course, prosperity and success in this context is not what we usually think of in our current culture. Prosperity and success here are measured in God’s terms based on a godly life that glorifies Him.

Psalm One offers a similar promise to the one who meditates on His law day and night. The psalmist tells us that we shall be like a fruitful tree rather than dry sawdust. Whatever such a person does shall prosper.

Isn’t that what we want in our lives? If we find ourselves falling short of this ideal we should look at the quality and level of our meditation on God’s Word. How are we doing in that area?