“They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
You know when someone is telling you a story and it is taking way too long? I know what you are thinking, “Can you just get to the point?” At first, you were attentive and all ears, but after a while, you lost interest. That summary of a drawn-out story is a welcome ending.
You could sum up the entire book of Deuteronomy in this verse. The Israelites were about to cross over the Jordan River and conquer the land the Lord God gave them. They had spent 40 years wandering around the desert, seeing miracle after miracle. They also learned some very hard lessons along the way. Now, on the banks of the Jordan River, they were about to move into a promise that the Lord had told them about years earlier. Finally, they were about to occupy the land flowing with milk and honey.
You may be facing a Jordan River of your own. The small look across the river sent you into a tailspin of doubt and unbelief. What you saw on the other side of this river in your life was frightening, and you instantly recognized your inadequacy and shortcomings.
For the past period of time, you have been getting a steady stream of what is to come and where you are to go. These words and direction are powerful, but in the middle of your desert in life, they fall to the ground like water off a duck’s back. You have been following behind your leaders in life, and now it is time to put up or shut up. The leadership torch is being handed off, and crossing this river in your life is not a what-if but a will-do in several days or months.
Now you read this verse, and you recognize that, in the middle of the desert, the direction you have been receiving from your leader all this time has been reflected by you as “idle words.” You will cross this Jordan River in your life, and you will face the very terrors that sent you into a tailspin earlier, but this time, you will use these words as your lifeline, not idle words that are meant for conversation, but a lifeline meant to replenish and refresh your soul.
It is only by using these words as a lifeline that you will live long in this new land that has been given to you to possess. God is going before you to make a way. Use the words in this book as your lifeline, and you will go forth to possess the land that has been prepared for you.
Your faith in Christ and reading His Word (the Bible) are your lifeline in life. Without them, you will seem directionless, responding to whatever moves you. Remain in Christ, and your path will be straight and purposeful, because without Him, you will always go back to Egypt, where you were slaves. Going forward with Christ means considering His words a lifeline.
Prayer: Father, I pray that when I read Your Word, I will treat it as a lifeline, the very thing I need to survive. I pray that I meditate on it day and night. I know I will go forth and possess the land You have already given me, even though it may seem too large for me. I will go forth in victory, knowing the Lord has leveled the mountains before me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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