“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. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:8-9, ESV)
Obedience to God on a college campus can be an incredible challenge. We are faced with hundreds of distractions; from friends, to school work, to clubs and organizations, to new-found freedom, all of these things can potentially cause us to lose focus on what God is doing in our lives. But here it says to meditate on the Word and live out what it says, that THIS is the road to prosperity and success. When we lose sight of what God has shown us in the bible, it’s easy to let all of the distractions become roadblocks. This is a lesson that I’m still learning, I’m striving to become more consistent in spending my time meditating on the Word and on how God is calling each and everyone of us to live our lives. It’s so much easier to jump on Facebook, or go for a walk, or take a nap (every second of sleep is precious during the school year, am I right?) than to find a quiet place, sit down with your bible and seek God’s heart through his Word. But I’m tired of the status quo, I’m sick and tired of coming to the end of a day and finding hours of wasted time. I’m over it. And frankly, I feel that God’s over it too, that He’s just as sick and tired of seeing His cherished sons and daughters waste their time when He’s got all kinds of awesome stuff lined up for us. And if you don’t think that God’s got something AMAZING lined up for you, you are gravely mistaken. God didn’t send his Son to die for a life of mediocrity! God didn’t go through all the work that He’s done in your life to bring you where you are, just to let you sit and become stagnant. NO! That would be foolishness, God did those things so that EVERYONE would come to know True Love, and as a believer, you have the most important and most exciting role of all.
Obedience.
Your obedience to God will take you places beyond your dreams. Joshua and Caleb, because of their obedience, ushered the Israelites into the Promised Land. Not by being the coolest, or the most popular, but by not being afraid to say, “This is God’s promise, this is what God asked of us, our God will protect us against the people that control the Promised Land, He is not a liar and His promises are true.” Obedience. There have been times where God has put something on my heart, but I didn’t speak it or act on it because I was afraid of what people might think about me. But it says clearly in Joshua 1:9… “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.” When the Lord is asking of us, there is no need for fear, there is no ROOM for fear in this situation. “Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Be encouraged! When God convicts you, when He gives you a word for someone else, when He points someone out to you who needs prayer while you’re walking on Palm Walk… Be strong and courageous! The LORD your God will be with you, He will go before you and will bless you for your obedience.
