Joshua 1:8 “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 good success.”
I have always been impressed by men and women in the military. Their precision, respect, focus, obedience, and perfection in the tasks they do. These people were not born with these traits, but learned them in training. Boot camp training is hard. Research states the most difficult thing is learning to give up your freedom to obey those in authority over you. These highly-skilled, highly-trained individuals are described as serving in the military. Serving their country. They are servants.
The first mention of Joshua in the Bible is Exodus 17:9 when he was chosen by Moses to lead Israel’s army, a position he held the rest of his life. Exodus 17:10 describes Joshua’s action, “Joshua did as Moses told him.” Joshua was pure military. In Exodus 24:13, Joshua is described as Moses’ assistant or minister, but as we’ve learned before, this can mean a servant who has the opportunity to fill his master’s position in the future. As we all know, many years later, Joshua fills the position of Israel’s leader when Moses dies.
When you read Scriptures about Joshua, you find him to be an excellent warrior, an obedient servant, and a strong leader. In fact, I could not find a negative thing written about him! Joshua 11:15 describes the excellence of Joshua, “Just as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.”
Scripture doesn’t include many details about Joshua’s life. We do read that he waited when Moses went up on the mountain to hear from God. Ever wonder what Joshua did during those forty days? All those days he sat at the entrance of the tent while Moses was inside? Perhaps he spent this time reading and memorizing the Law! “Joshua’s responsibility included unswerving obedience to the Mosaic Law. This would be the key to his success. Knowing the Law was only the first step. Practicing it was what would make Joshua effective (‘be careful to do according to all the Law’; cf. Deut. 5:32-33).” *
To be obedient, we must know what it is that we are expected to obey. We must know what the Scriptures tell us to do. We must understand our orders. For Joshua, who had the Book of the Law from Moses, he was to keep it, meditate on it day and night, so he would remember his responsibilities and keep them. The same is true for you and me. We have God’s Word to read, meditate on day and night so that we can know and remember our responsibilities and keep them so that we “may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.”
Being a servant of God includes doing the work of reading, studying, and practicing His Word in order that we may be an obedient servant – one who knows what is expected of her and willingly obeys.
Taking it further: Take a moment to determine how you are doing in learning what the Scriptures tell us to do. Can you think of times of waiting (like Joshua) that you could fill with Scripture reading or memorization? Would you be willing to share them with others in the comments?
https://soniclight.com/tcon/notes/html/joshua/joshua.htm
