May 18, 2026

Joshua 1

7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

The Lord instructs Joshua how to be prosperous in these verses. Again, it is important to see the eternal interpretation as well as the temporal.

We must be courageous because of our trust in our Savior. We must fully believe in His redeeming grace so that our courage will inspire us to follow the commandments, repent, and continuously come unto Him. The covenant path is straight and narrow, and veering to the left or the right leads away from our destination. There are many ways to walk, but only one leads to eternal life.

Verse 8 is great because it gives a succinct formula for how to follow the Lord and find success. Aways study and ponder the scriptures but you can't stop there. Studying isn't enough. After we study we must do. We have to act on the knowledge we gain from the Lord. While studying the scriptures orients us toward Heavenly Father and our Savior, it's the actions, the act of following the commandments that propel us forward to them.

Elemenopee and the Lord's name

When children initially learn the alphabet, inevitably after the letter "k" comes the letter elemenopee. This common mistake doesn't occur through malicious intent, rather through rote repetition of what they think they hear. The harm is that the five letters this jumbled mess represent are not understood at this stage of the child's growth - that means they don't understand roughly 20% of the alphabet. If this were to continue without remedy, the child would remain illiterate and the rote memorization and repetition would be in vain.

When we close our prayers does the last sentence ever sound like an elemenopee? Do we say "in the name of Jesus Christ" as one word, not considering the meaning? If we do, it's not malicious. But the danger is that our rote memorization and repetition becomes a use of the Lord's name in vain, and that means we don't understand why we are using His name. If this were to continue without remedy, we would remain fallen.

I believe the commandment to not use the Lord's name in vain is there so we always think of Him, truly think of all He does for us, so we can draw near to Him.

Let's remember to not turn any part of the gospel into an elemenopee, especial our Redeemer.