“A Prosperous New Year”

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. (Joshua 1:8)

At an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) Coaches Huddle I attended recently, the topic was “Servant Leadership”. In the course of discussion, a veteran coach shared with the group that upon entering the coaching profession he had made a list of goals to achieve over the course of his career. He then stated in a distinct southern drawl, “I have been coaching 28 years. And you know, I dug that list out last year, and I realized that almost all of the goals I had on that list were about me, not kids.”

I have never been big on New Years resolutions. Mostly because they are much like this coach’s list: more about me than others, and more about my desires than God’s will. I am however, given to reflection and meditation at the turn of each year. While I do spend considerable time going back through the journal entries of the preceding year pondering God’s provision, remembering notable events, and rejoicing over answered prayers, I spend the bulk of my time yearning for a word from the Lord for the year to come—a word that is both for me and the church I pastor. For 2010 the Lord gave me Joshua 1:8.

If you read the Bible from cover to cover, in the order it is assembled, by the time you arrive at the first chapter of Joshua and the eighth verse Joshua is already a well known figure to you. An Ephraimite born in Egyptian bondage, he was named significantly, Hoshea (or Oshea), which means “salvation” (Num. 13:8). Shortly after Israel’s exodus he was appointed Moses’ commander and repulsed an Amalekite attack; he and the troops fighting in the valley as Aaron and Hur held Moses’ arms on the mountain (Ex. 17). Moses later changed his name to Joshua (Numbers 13:16), which means “the Lord is my Salvation”—a fitting name, for he is a man who is a beautiful type of Jesus, whose name is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua. Joshua loved the Lord. Exodus 33:11 tells us he “did not depart from the tabernacle.” He attended Moses on Mt. Sinai (Ex. 24 and 32) and served as his assistant (Num. 11:28). Later, representing the tribe of Ephraim, he was one of the twelve picked to spy out the Land of Canaan. Resisting the majority report, he insisted that Israel could conquer the giants of Canaan. For this, he was nearly stoned to death (Num. 14). But for his faithfulness, about forty years later, Joshua would be one of only two men of his generation (Caleb being the other) to enter the Promised Land, and not only that, he would be named by the Lord as Moses’ successor (Num. 27:18).

Joshua would have had a full life if his story had ended here. But in many respects, this was just the beginning. At this point, he is given the gargantuan task of following in Moses’ formidable footsteps—even doing what Moses did not succeed in doing—possessing the Promised Land. In one sense, this is the moment Joshua has been waiting for. He has desired for nearly four decades to do this very thing. But in another sense he is a reluctant leader, overwhelmed with his new-found position and unaware of just how to begin. This is where one usually consults a manual, elicits counsel, begins mind mapping, and offers up some prayer—in that order. Not so with Joshua.

Joshua’s recipe for success was to seek the Lord through His word continually (“meditate in it”), and do all that it says (“observe/obey”). Know His word and to obey His word. There is much in these words worthy of our attention. But due to the brevity of this article, I would like you to focus on a simple truth, and that is this…that there is more here than just inflexible commands that Joshua is to perform to obtain a positive result; there is relationship embedded within these instructions. You see, God has designed it so that the Living Word (John 1) is revealed to us through the written word (John 20:31). As we discipline ourselves to read, think about, pray, and act upon the scriptures, we are washed (Eph. 5:26) and transformed (Rom. 12:2), but we are also taught (1 John 2:27) and guided (John 16:13) by the Holy Spirit. He becomes our personal tutor; in today’s terms…our life coach. It is then that the commandments of the Lord are no longer burdensome to the believer.

One of the key phrases in the book of Joshua is “Joshua rose early”. It signifies a heart intent on seeking the Lord and doing His will. The idea is the same as expressed in Psalm 63:8, “My soul follows hard after You.” Joshua would have to know and follow the voice of the Lord to prosper. When He did seek the Lord he experienced gaudy success, even by sometimes outlandish means. I mean, they march around Jericho, blow some horns, and the wall falls down (Josh. 6). No hallucinogen could have made a leader devise such a scheme. But when he does not seek the Lord, he is defeated by much less imposing foes like Ai (Josh. 7) and is tricked into a an alliance with Gibeah that my two year old son would have steered clear of (Josh. 9). To be fair to Joshua, while the broad plan for our life is often easily seen and heard, like “take this land”, the day to day accomplishing of this thing is much more difficult. As with Ai, when we don’t wait to hear from the Lord on how to do a thing it can be as disastrous as not doing the thing at all. “March around that city” or “don’t make that treaty” is only revealed to us as we spend personal time with Him. Herein we face our dilemma, for, with the Lord, there is no such thing as quality time, only quantity time (“mediate in it day and night”). I continue to learn that there are no shortcuts. And I am growing to appreciate the fact that there are not any. For in the quantity of time spent with Him I realize the quality of it. At His feet “He makes known to me the path of life; in His presence there is fullness of joy; at His right hand are pleasures forevermore (Ps. 16:11)” and “Better is one day in His courts than thousands elsewhere (Ps. 84:10)”

For the year 2010, my prayer for my life personally and our church corporately is that we will begin to rearrange our lives in such a way as to truly relationally know God; as A.W. Tozer put it…”to practice the presence of God”. If this is had, we will have found the Bible’s definition of prosperity and success.

I would like to leave you with a related excerpt from Tozer’s book, “The Pursuit of God”…

How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers. Everything is made to center upon the initial act of “accepting” Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him, we need no more seek Him. In the midst of this great chill there are some, I rejoice to acknowledge, who will not be content with shallow logic. They will admit the force of the argument, and then turn away with tears to hunt some lonely place and pray. “Oh God, show me Thy glory.” They want to taste, to touch with their hearts, to see with their inner eyes the wonder that is God.

I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long in vain. Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.

If we would find God amid all the religious externals, we must first determine to find Him and then proceed in the way of simplicity. Now, as always, God reveals Himself to “babes” and hides Himself in thick darkness from the wise and the prudent. We must simplify our approach to Him. We must strip down to essentials (and they will be found to be blessedly few). We must put away all effort to impress, and come with the guileless candor of childhood. If we do this, without doubt, God will quickly respond. We need not fear that in seeking God only we narrow our lives or restrict the motions of our expanding hearts. The opposite is true. We can well afford to make God our All, to concentrate, to sacrifice the many for the One. The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever.

God bless,
Pastor Mike