Joshua 1:8 (ESV) "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. "
Psalm 63:5–7 (ESV) "My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy."
So! You want me to meditate? Okay, where can I get one of those ugly turbans and give me a couple of weeks to limber up. I haven't tried to sit Indian style in years. And what is it we are looking for, "Perfect nothingness? Isn't that the place just north of the Red River?"......
Relax. I don't think, (okay, I KNOW) that is not what God has in mind. What he does have in mind, however, is for us to slow down and take some time to "encounter the Living God" (do not be intimidated by yet another cheap imitation of something God has called us to do).
Richard Foster in his book Celebration of Discipline states this fact:
"In the Old Testament there are 2 main Hebrew words used that convey the message of meditation and they are used over 50 times. These words have various meanings: listening to God’s word, reflecting on God’s works...ruminating on God’s law, and more."Listening? I can do that, sort of. Reflecting? I can do that too. But ruminating? I think I did that back it college once, but you can't prove it. But it really is that simple.
Webster's defines "Meditation" has follows "to focus one's thoughts on; to reflect on or ponder over"; therefore, in its simplest, purest form "Christian Meditation" is to: 1) focus one's thoughts on God; 2) to reflect on or ponder over God. Pretty simple, and where better to start than the Bible. As we learn to "Read the Bible for Life", I think we should also learn how to "Meditate on the Bible for Life". The latter will assist us in Listening, Understanding, and Responding to God's Word.
More to follow the next few days, but I wanted to leave you with this. George Mueller is one of my spiritual heroes. This is a man who truly knew how to live by faith. "Give us this DAY our DAILY bread" was a reality for him. He says this about why we should meditate on God's word:
Through reading of the word of God, and especially through meditation on the word of God, the believer becomes more and more acquainted with the nature and character of God, and thus sees more and more, besides His holiness and justice, what a kind, loving, gracious, merciful, mighty, wise, and faithful Being He is, and, therefore, in poverty, affliction of body, bereavement in his family, difficulty in his service, want of a situation or employment, he will repose upon the ability of God to help him, because he has not only learned from His word that He is of almighty power and infinite wisdom, but he has also seen instance upon instance in the Holy Scriptures in which His almighty power and infinite wisdom have been actually exercised in helping and delivering His people; and he will repose upon the willingness of God to help him, because he has not only learned from the Scriptures what a kind, good, merciful, gracious, and faithful being God is, but because he has also seen in the word of God how, in a great variety of instances He has proved Himself to be so. And the consideration of this, if God has become known to us through prayer and meditation on His own word, will lead us, general at least, with a measure of confidence to rely upon Him: and thus the reading of the word of God, together with meditation on it, will be one especial means to strengthen our faith." - Müller, George (2009-10-04). Answers to Prayer From George Müller's Narratives (Kindle Locations 332-341). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.
Wag out.
No comments:
Post a Comment