THE CYCLE OF OBEDIENCE AND SUCCESS
We ended the last chapter with another reference
to Joshua 1:8, this time in connection with its
promise of prosperity and success. Those two
words, prosperity and success, have the ability to
get people's attention. If anyone were to ask you
if you'd rather succeed or fail, what would you
say? My guess is that would choose to succeed. So
I have good news for you: if you have chosen to
begin meditating in the Word of God, you are on
your way to success! Let me tell you how I know
that.
In Chapter Twelve we majored on Psalm 1, and with
good reason, as we have seen. One of the promises
of Psalm 1 to the man or woman who meditates in
the Word is that "whatsoever he does shall
prosper." That seems to be an amazing blanket
statement. Does God mean I will prosper no matter
what I do? Well, yes. The reason is, first of all,
that when meditating the Scripture becomes a way
of life for you, you will end up doing the right
thing, the thing you are supposed to be doing. And
as you meditate the Word day and night,
understanding, direction, revelation, and
inspiration begin to flow in a way that causes you
to do the right things the right way.
But let's look again at Joshua 1:8:
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy
mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and
night, that thou mayest observe to do all that is
contained therein: for then thou shalt make thy
way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good
success.
It doesn't take long to see that the key to making
one's way prosperous and having good success is to
"observe to do all that is contained therein!" In
other words, obedience to the Word of God is the
key to success. And it should be no surprise to
anyone. Every parent and every child understands
that obedience goes a long way towards getting
things to go well.
But, although we know obedience is key, are we
obedient? Some are naturally more inclined to obey
than others. But disobedience is still a big
problem. So how do we come to the place of
obedience and the blessings that result from it?
And what does meditating in the Word have to do
with it? I am about to show you a dynamic
Scriptural principle which, if followed, will set
in motion a cycle of obedience and success that
can change your life. We are going to look at a
chain reaction that is set in gear when someone
begins to regularly meditate the Word of God.
Let's follow the progression step by step:
1.Meditation
This is, of course, the starting point. Both
Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:2 urge meditation in the
Word day and night. We said that it is not
necessary to meditate in the Word every day and
every night. But it must be done regularly and
often to get the success cycle rolling.
2. Understanding
In Chapter Nine we made the case that a principal
benefit of meditation is understanding. Psalm 49:3
says, "My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the
meditation of my heart shall be of understanding."
Think of the speaking component of meditation:
muttering, murmuring, etc. What greater wisdom
could my mouth speak of than the Word of God? And
the result of the meditation is understanding.
Psalm 119:99 says, "I have more understanding than
all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my
meditation." The man who spends his days and
nights meditating the Word of God will surpass any
of those who do not, regardless of how educated
they may be. The Scriptural understanding that
results from meditation is a deep one, residing in
the heart.
3. Obedience
This may seem to be a jump. How does understanding
lead to obedience? In a couple of ways.
One problem believers have had in obeying the Word
is that the Word they are trying to obey is
improperly understood. Usually this improper or
incomplete understanding is the result of trying
only to mentally or logically understand the Word
of God. There is nothing wrong with mental or
intellectual comprehension of the Bible; in fact
it is a necessary part of the process. But it will
not get you where you need to go, which is
obedience to and conformity with God's will. The
Bible will not allow itself to be conquered
intellectually, and the one who goes at it in that
way will have only a partial understanding at
best.
For example, many of us are familiar with those
forms of holiness which result from an incomplete
understanding of some Scriptures that discuss
clothing, women's hairstyles, jewelry, etc. The
problem with this is not that the believers are
not well-intentioned, or even that the
interpretation is necessarily wrong as far as it
goes. The problem with an incomplete "head"
understanding is that it often results in trying
to do the impossible, which is to be what God
wants us to be without His grace, or enabling,
which comes from the heart and cannot be received
apart from a heart understanding of the issue at
hand.
Psalm 119:34 says, "Give me understanding, and I
shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with
my whole heart." The psalmist states an important
principle here: when the committed believer
understands the Word, then he will keep the Word,
and observe it with his whole heart. Understanding
is a key catalyst to obedience.
Returning briefly to the Parable of the Sower, we
read this in Matthew 13:19:
When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and
understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one,
and catcheth away that which was sown in his
heart!
When there is no understanding of the Word, the
enemy is empowered to neutralize the work of that
portion of the Word in a person's life.
The reason that true heart understanding leads to
obedience is that with it comes whatever heart
adjustments are necessary to bring you into line
with God's Word and will.
4. Success
Where there is true obedience, the kind that
results from heart understanding, there will be
success. There is no avoiding it; success will
result because that is what the Word says will
happen. News flash: by now you may have seen your
definition of success change a little (or a lot).
Those "heart adjustments" that come along with
heart understanding are designed to put you in the
right path and cause you to walk it well.
We have already seen what Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:3
have to say about meditation, obedience, and
success. We'll end this chapter with the counsel
of 1 Timothy 4:15:
Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to
them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
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