Open the book

Open the book

Bible: Joshua 1:1-9

Keep this Book of Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night (V.8).

Reading

Tsundoku. It’s the word I’ve always needed! It’s the Japanese word for the stack of books on your bedside table (or on your eReader) that are still waiting to be read. Books offer learning, adventure and an escape into another world. But we have to actually open them to enjoy these things! This truth is even more important when it comes to the book of books— the Bible. I see the encouragement to dive into God’s words in His instructions to Joshua, the new leader of Israel who took the people into the Promised Land (JOSHUA 1:8). Knowing the difficulty ahead, God promised Joshua, “I will be with you” (V.5). His help would come, in part, through Joshua’s obedience to God’s commands. So God told him to “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it” (V.8). It was not enough for Joshua to simply have the Book of the Law; Joshua needed to regularly open and search it to get understanding into who God is and what His ways look like. Like Joshua, as we take time to read, reflect on and live out the Bible’s teaching, we will benefit from all of it (2 TIMOTHY 3:16)—including the Old Testament law.

THE BIBLE TEACHES US EVERYTHING WE
NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD AND HIS WAYS.
BUT WE DO NEED TO READ IT!

YouTh Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries