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 good success.
Joshua 1:8
Some of you may know Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, but I imagine most don’t. They were a very “successful” Hollywood couple. And in 1927 made it official by being the first to leave a cement imprint of their hands and feet at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. It is still one of the most popular sites to visit today.
What is the attraction of hands and feet? It is a look of success. When you have your hands imprinted in cement, you’ve made it! Grauman’s Theatre has over 200 celebrity imprints, and people from all over the world are interested to see if their hands fit the celebrity hands. I don’t know. It seems a little weird, but people seem to enjoy it.
So why do people frantically chase success? I believe they replace “success” with “celebrity.”
God defines success by so much more than a celebrity status or having a gazillion dollars. It focuses on what we allow to enter our minds and what we intentionally do with that knowledge. I had an acquaintance say the other day that “Jesus didn’t want us to memorize Bible verses but wanted us to love other people.” I was honestly shocked at the way he tore down the importance of Scripture. I believe God wants us to love others, but He also wants us to hide God’s word in our hearts (Psalm 118:11).
Can’t we do both?
Meditate on God’s Word
It is clear to me that success in God’s terms requires us to not only read the Bible but also to meditate on it. Let it sink in and capture our thoughts. We don’t know what we don’t know, and that’s why it is essential to read and meditate. To meditate means to think deeply on a subject. So when we read Scripture, we should think deeply about its meaning without any distractions.
This meditation is the groundwork for success. Remember, we cannot do that which we do not know.
While many people fail to see the relevancy in Scripture today, it is undeniably the very words of God to us as encouragement and instruction on salvation and the way we should live.
Once we internalize God’s word, we are ready to apply it to our actions.
Meditate Adds Meaning to Our Actions
It is virtually impossible to do what we do not know to do, but God gives Joshua the secret to success. God tells Joshua to act on what he knows to be true. And God’s word is this truth.
We follow the blueprint for success and do what is in the Bible. It seems pretty clear to me. However, there are many people who chase success in other ways that produce the world’s success and fame. Many people spend their lives chasing something they will eventually lose.
How do we know loving God is necessary? Because it is in the Bible. How do we know loving others is important? Because it is in the Bible. How do we know taking care of widows and orphans is critical? Because it is in the Bible. How do we know that we should seek to live in peace with all people? Because it is in the Bible.
Achieving success should never be our motivation. Pleasing God should be our motivation, and it is impossible to please God apart from meditating and doing God’s word. So what is our reason for acting on God’s word? Pleasing God. That’s it. Pleasing God. That is our motivation.
What are you chasing? Are you chasing handprints in the cement? Are you chasing accolades from others? Are you chasing the fame and fortune of the world’s success? Choose to make a difference.
Back to our opening illustration. Did you know Mary Pickford? Probably not. Time dims the memory of celebrity success, and eventually, we will forget they even existed, but the success of a Christ-follower makes an eternal difference.