2023 was not a great year. It had its high moments with the birth of our two grandsons, Zechariah and Oliver. It also had its low moments, with Jamie waking up in April with immense back pain that has led to her having back surgery again. It was a year of rebirth with the Lord prodding us to relaunch Hole in the Roof Ministries. It was a year of death with the passing of one of my closest friends from my teenage/young adult years. More than anything, 2023 was a year of testing. Without going into much detail, Jamie and I have been pushed, pulled, torn, and kneaded. I would compare what has been going on to what happens to your muscles when you lift weights. Small micro-tears develop inside your muscles so that they may heal stronger. As anyone who has pushed themselves in weight training knows, you are incredibly sore the next day. It makes you question whether you want to return to the gym. That is how I felt as 2023 ended. I was so “sore” from all that had transpired. Could I really enter another year with a significant change? I really needed to hear from God.
At the beginning of the year, the church we attend had “Seek Week,” which was five days of prayer and fasting. As a diabetic, unfortunately, I could not go five days without anything but water, so I chose to lessen what I was eating at breakfast and lunch and then skip dinner. During these five days, Jamie and I would pray together and individually. We both knew that we needed direction on some things in our lives, and we asked God to help clarify how we should proceed on multiple fronts. During my individual time of praying and Bible reading on Friday of that week, I was led back to a series of verses God has used in my life multiple times.
“Only 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. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
- Joshua 1:7-9 NKJV
As I said, God has used this set of verses in my life multiple times, but this time, something different jumped out at me. Verse 6, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night,” compelled me to dig deeper into its meaning. As Christians, we sometimes turn to the latest book by a well-known Christian author or a sermon on YouTube for answers. Yet, we don’t take the time just to open our own Bible and read it ourselves. Christian books, sermons, or even blogs like ours are excellent supplements to the Scriptures, but nothing replaces actually reading your Bible.
For many years, God instructed Moses to write the first five books of the Bible. That is what is being referred to as “The Book of the Law” in this verse. God speaks to Joshua in this verse, encouraging him to read all Moses had written down. He was to read, meditate, and talk about it. Let’s focus on the word “meditate.” In Hebrew, the word for meditate is hāḡâ, which means “to moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise, plot, speak.” I like what Pastor Skip Heitzig says in his sermon on Joshua Chapters 1 & 2:
“Why does the Lord tell Joshua in verse eight, the book of the law shall not depart from your mouth? Doesn’t say shall not depart from your thought life or from your heart, but it shall not depart from your mouth. It’s an interesting phraseology. And I believe the answer, in part, is found in the word in that verse; you will meditate on it day and night. The word meditate literally means the low moaning of an animal when they’re chewing their food, especially animals that have cuds in they chew their food– [GROWLING] –and they swallow it, and they bring it up again. And they chew a little more to get a little more nutrients, and they bring it down, and they regurgitate it, and they chew a little more. They’re getting every bit of nourishment they can from that food and the cycles of regurgitation that give them the maximum amount of nourishment. So, they will moan when they do that.”
Growing up, my family would visit my Aunt and Uncle’s dairy farm in southern Missouri. A regular part of those visits was helping my Uncle and cousins milk the cows. Well, if I was honest, I did very little to help with the actual milking, but it was fun to be there during the process. One thing I vividly remember from those visits was watching the cows as they waited for their time to be milked. They would just stand there and chew their cud. Over and over and over again, they just chewed. That is the picture I want you to see as you re-read verse six.
“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.”
Cows are not the only animals who chew their cud. Sheep, who are also grazing animals, do the same. Repeatedly in the Bible, Christians are referred to as sheep. As our good shepherd, God wants us to take Scripture and meditate on it. Not just look at it in our morning devotionals and then go on with our day, but “chew” on it repeatedly throughout the day. Meditating on that verse, or set of verses, is where you will hear God speak to you. In those moments, you will find direction on what you are supposed to do.
Let me ask you a simple question. How much dust has accumulated on your Bible? Do you go days without opening it? Is the only time you look at Scripture at church on Sunday mornings? We, who call ourselves Christians, should be chewing on Scripture each and every day like our lives depend on it. In fact, it does. Everything we need to guide ourselves through our daily grind is in the pages of the Bible. Reading our Bibles, prayer, and seeking God is the very lifeblood of the Christian faith. Without it, we are just anemic, anorexic, sickly sheep.
“But, Paul, reading the Bible is hard. There is so much I don’t understand. And don’t even get me started on all the genealogies. Those just bore me, and I lose interest in Bible reading.” I have two simple answers to comments such as this. One, find a translation of the Bible that is enjoyable for you to read. There are so many excellent translations of the Bible, and we own many different ones. I grew up mostly reading the New International Versions (NIV) of the Bible, so often, that is my go-to translation. Yet, I’ve mostly been reading the New King James Version (NKJV) recently. Contrary to what some may say, there is no correct translation of the Bible. Just find the one that you would want to read each day. Oh, and on a quick side note, purchase a hard copy of the Bible. There is nothing wrong with reading Scripture on a tablet, phone, or computer, but there is something about holding a physical Bible while reading. It gives you a tactile, physical experience while reading God’s Word.
Next, find a study guide to the Bible, reading plan, or sermon series that helps you study God’s Word. In recent months, Jamie and I have been watching a sermon series on YouTube by Pastor Skip Heitzig on the Book of Genesis. In this series, he goes verse by verse and chapter by chapter through Genesis. I’ve heard and read the stories of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph before, but there is something incredible about seeing all of it as a complete, whole story. We have both learned so much. In fact, we have enjoyed it so much that we’ve decided to continue on to his next series on the Book of Exodus. Listening to a sermon series may not be for you, but there are many books or online tools to help you understand the Scripture. None of these things can replace reading God’s Word for yourself.
So, my challenge to you, my dear friend, is to dust off your Bible and meditate (chew)on it daily. Find a good Bible study to complement your reading of the Scripture and use it. Discover the verse that God is pointing you to and chew on it. Chew and chew and chew, extracting every ounce of nourishment from it and then find another. I promise you that this will change your life. This is how you will hear from God. How do I know this? Because it is the promise that directly follows verse six.
“For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
