“Be
strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law
which Moses My servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right
hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 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 1:7-8 NKJV
“Prosperity”
means different things to different people. We have the modern-day
“prosperity gospel preachers” who promise material wealth to those who pray
hard enough and believe deeply enough and give generously enough. There
are two problems, however; one, we don’t really know how “enough” is measured,
and the only ones who really seem to “prosper” are the preachers to whom such
generous folks “give”.
Trying
to understand “prosperity” is hard enough especially when we let our Western
capitalist standard become the sole, or even primary, measure of
prosperity. The word itself has its own meaning in its own context, but
we cheat ourselves when we try to make our Western standard fit into the
standard of Joshua’s culture, Israel’s future, and the Eternal Word.
Rather
than try to define “prosperity” neatly and conveniently, however, I will
commend to you The Lord’s instruct to Joshua: “You shall meditate IN
it (The Book of the Law, aka, “Torah”) day and
night”. This is to say, we must not simply read the text as an
“assignment” and then walk away toward our own business as though we had not
even cracked the Book! Rather we read and absorb what is written
for our instruction, for our “prosperity”, and most certainly for the sake of
The Lord’s glory so that as we go about our business, we do our business in
accordance with what has been revealed to us in the Scriptures. Rather
than to allow the Holy Word to become a part of our being, we become a
part of The Word itself as we “meditate IN it” instead of
“about it” or even “on it”. It is the difference between trying to make
The Word fit into our own private mold – and – allowing The Word to shape us
into that Divine Image in which we are all created.
Do
not allow “prosperity” itself to become the pursuit. Rather, allow The
Holy Word to become our earnest pursuit. Our God assures us He will take
care of the “prosperity”.
Blessings,
Michael
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