Psalm 1: 1 – 3
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.
Joshua 1: 8
“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 success.”
The most casual reading of these two verses teaches us that meditation on the Word of the Lord brings us to prosperity and success, but I see deeper meaning in these passages. In them I see a lifestyle. Each of them speaks about meditating in the Word day and night. When I read this, I picture a people for whom Christianity has become their lifestyle like Judaism was and is for the Jews. I am seeing a people whose faith colors their whole life. It is in everything they say and everything they do.
Christianity ought to be not only something we believe in, but something we do. It ought to be our beginning and our end. We should live a “God with us, God in us” lifestyle. I mean, imagine God as the center point of our day, life and community. Most of us hold our God as someone very dear to us but we have not developed a culture of being Christians. Our culture has been to save our Christianity for Sunday. We look like everyone else Monday through Saturday.
This isn’t criticism but rather a calling. We are being called up higher and at the same time deeper by our God. The culture of a people changes with time, and I believe it is time for us to make our faith be the dominant piece of the life around us. I mean to distinguish this from being the most important thing in your heart. It may be that God and your faith are the most important things in your heart. I believe that. What I am suggesting is that collectively we should begin to make our faith the umbrella, the cloak of our lives. It is the covering of all. I am suggesting that it is not only something we are, but it is something we do.
God tells us to do this by meditating on His Word day and night. I imagine that as we focus on His Word it will begin to permeate our conversations. Maybe it affects the music around us too. I don’t know all of the ways it may be manifested but I do know that we must “move into” our Christianity. It needs to be the central part of who we are and what we do. It should become the dominant quality about us. People should know how great our God is. And they will when we begin living large in the Faith of our Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit.