Try starting with obedience.
Joshua 1:1-9 After the death of Moses the LORD's servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant.He said, 2 "Moses My servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them.
3 I promise you what I promised Moses: 'Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you-- 4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.' 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.
6 "Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.
7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.
8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
9 This is My command--be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
Joshua has some big sandals to fill, Moses was the first leader of the Israelites as a nation and he proved to be an awesome leader, Joshua has a big job ahead of him.
Things are about to get tough and the Lord knows that Joshua is going to need courage to lead the troublesome Israelites into the Promised Land and lead them into battle against the people that are already there.
God tells Joshua that the way to "Be strong and courageous" is to rely on God's strength, be obedient to all the teaching and commands that God passed down through Moses, he tells him to be obedient and he tells him how to know that he is being obedient. The only way to be certain that you are obedient is to study God's word, Joshua was told to study the word day and night and meditate on it, then you will know what is right and then the Lord will prosper you because of your obedience.
James 1:22-25 But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
I need to study God's word so that I will be busy doing what he wants me to do. There isn't any better way to guarantee my obedience to God than through meditating on what he is telling me to do. If I just crack open the word once a week then I am much more likely to forget what I am supposed to be doing and how I am supposed to be changing to become more like Christ.
Thank you Lord for investing so much time in revealing yourself to us, I pray that I will always dig into your word and see the things that need to change so that I will be more like you.
