Joshua
One
The Commission
Forty years after God set Israel free from Egypt, at the end of the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses dies, and God turns to Joshua and says, “Alright, you have to lead these people into the Promised Land and conquer the seven powerful nations that currently live there.”
I can imagine what Joshua might have been thinking, “Are you kidding me! First, these people are impossible to lead, they are stiff-necked, stubborn and a sinful people. Second, we are not strong enough to conquer the people who live there. We are outnumbered and outgunned. This is mission impossible.”
But God said to Joshua, “I will be with you.” In essence, God said to Joshua, I will do this for you. Then God literally gave Joshua a three step plan for the people to be able to stick with God and follow Him as God won victory after victory for them. All they had to do was follow God and remain faithful. To do that, God said to do these three things:
Step One: Meditate on the Word of God day and night and be careful to do it. So the first step was daily meditation and a resolution.
Step Two: Have the Word of God always on your lips. In other words, make the Word of God known to others by good conversation.
Step Three: swerve not from the Word of God to the right or to the left. Make sure you keep the law of God and don’t break it.
Then they would have good success.
Two
Daily meditation and a resolution
The first step for success was to meditate on the Word of God day and night, being careful to do it. Meditation, especially as taught by St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, the two Doctors on Prayer, is a form of prayer where we engage our whole soul, intellect, emotions and will with the Word of God. It is not about emptying the mind or simply quieting ourselves, but rather about actively seeking to understand God’s truth and apply it to our lives.
Meditation begins by recalling that we are in the presence of God (He dwells in our soul). Then we read or listen to or recall something from the Word of God (Scripture, Tradition or the Teaching of the Church). Then we reflect or think about it. We ask ourselves questions like: What is God saying to me here? How does this truth reveal His love, His will, or His call for me? In what ways am I living according to this truth—or failing to?
This process stirs repentance, gratitude, and a deeper desire for conversion. But meditation is not complete until it leads to a practical resolution, something specific and concrete we will do today to live in greater fidelity to God’s Word. In other words, meditation forms convictions in the heart that result in action. As St. James reminds us, we must be doers of the Word and not hearers only. And Jesus said, “It is not those who say to me, "Lord, Lord", who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
Three
Examination of Conscience
The Second Step God gave Joshua was to make sure he did not swerve from the Word of God to the right or the left. In other words, Joshua, do a daily examination of conscience to make sure you’re on the right path. Don’t swerve to the right or left is an interesting way to put it.
All the virtues stand in the middle between two extremes: excess and defect. Each virtue is like a mountain peak with a valley of vice to the left and the right, excess or deficiency.
Take humility, for example. Humility is thinking correctly about oneself. I have gifts but I don’t have all the gifts. Pride is to deviate from humility to the right or the left. I can think I have all the gifts, and everyone else is stupid, thinking too highly of myself. Or I can fail to recognize my own dignity and gifts, thinking too lowly of myself. Both are pride. Magnanimity is the virtue of not worrying about what people say and just doing what is right. Vanity doesn’t care about doing the right thing, it just seeks the praise of people. It’s an excessive desire for human approval. Whereas pusillanimity is a deficiency where we shrink from doing great things because we fear what others will say if we fail.
So, God told Joshua to examine his thoughts, words, and actions each day to keep him on the straight and narrow path.
Four
Good Conversation
The third step God gave Joshua was to have the Word of God always on your lips. What does this mean?
Right before this, God made it really clear. In Deuteronomy 6:6 God said, “Teach the Word of God diligently to your children, talk about it when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise.”
Okay, that is pretty clear. God wants us to meditate on the Word of God and then talk about it constantly. I think God would be a good candidate for friendship, good conversation, and the Rosary. Actually, this is precisely where we got our tagline.
Invite someone to pray the Rosary Podcast with you or read the transcript and pray the Rosary with them. Then have some good conversation. We come to understand something not just by reading or hearing it, but by actively engaging with it, especially through conversation. When we talk about an idea, we process it at a deeper level, clarifying our thoughts, making connections, and reinforcing what we've learned. Speaking forces us to organize our understanding and put it into words, which solidifies the concept in our minds. It also invites feedback and new perspectives, helping us refine and expand our understanding. In this way, conversation becomes a powerful tool for locking in knowledge and making it our own.
And the bonus is that by good conversation we grow in real friendship with the most important people in our lives.
Five
Overcoming Resistance
We all want real community and to talk to the most important people in our lives about the most important things. But what do we do if our family and friends do not want to pray or talk about religious things? We need a strategy to help increase their hunger, their interest in God.
Community is built through conversation. Don’t engage with people in conversation lesser ways. Remove the substitutes and distractions from true community. In other words, get off entertainment, news, sports, shows, and YouTube. Then you will be so bored you will take whoever is in your life and spend time with them. Do something elementally human with them, walk, eat or drink, have a meal. Show them the love of God by your genuine interest in people: Ask them what they think about things. Ask them, what is the number one thing on your mind the last thirty days or so? What is the best part of your life? What is the most challenging part? (Pain is the generator for reflection). When you can get people thinking and talking about important things to them, there is a much greater chance they will begin to think about the most important thing – God. But you must be patient!
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
Sometimes it can be daunting to talk about our faith, but this week, whenever you feel hesitant, commit to telling others about your prayer life, what you’ve been reflecting on, and asking them about their faith.
Challenge yourself to put your phone down as long as you’re with people, giving them your full attention and leaving more space for active conversation.
If you’re not already committed, commit to a daily examination of conscience each night, keeping in mind that we were asked not to stray to the left or to the right of the Word of God.