God’s Word On Your Lips // Joshua 1:8
Contextually, this came right after Moses died and Joshua was elevated to leader of the Israelites before their conquest of the Holy Land. That awesome verse about not fearing or being discouraged because God is with them is what directly precedes our verse of the day.
Do you find it interesting how God told Joshua to keep the Book of the Law on his lips? The verb for meditate actually means, “to chew,” like a cow chews its cud. It eats grass, gets all the flavor out of it, swallows it, allows the cud to soak up the stomach juices, burps it up, and repeats the process. So, when God says to keep His Law on His lips by meditating on it, he is giving more than just a suggestion to think about it, but to actively involve his mouth and digestive track.
This, my friends, might be a tummy-turning image, but it speaks to how we need to incorporate God’s Word into our lives. We need to chew on it, digest it, and allow it to come back out…not just as a burp or something similar, but as something that nourishes and sustains us.
Is that how you approach God’s Word in your life? If not, give meditating on it a try. Chew on a verse. Swallow it to internalize its meaning. Digest it to get the nourishment it provides while remembering nothing is expelled as waste! No, it is all there for us to enjoy, learn from, nourish, and sustain.
