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CHRISTIAN LIVING TODAY
God established meditation.
It is no recent cultural practice — and yes, other religions beside Christianity use meditation. The practice is common all around us, though my question is how does a Christian understand meditation?
Joshua 1:8 prompted my research. How God originated meditation when he told Joshua: “Meditate on (My book of law) day and night.”
In that verse, meditate means to muse, imagine, study and think about.
Meditation means to focus our thoughts, to contemplate a specific subject in order to discern meaning or significance. One effective way to do this is to read aloud to yourself.
The instruction from this verse includes follow- up actions, as well — to allow this information to affect our life and behavior.
I recall learning that cows demonstrate Biblical meditation. Cows ruminate, they chew their cud repeatedly.
That really is a great picture of meditation: to remember, reflect, strongly consider the things of God.
It was amazing for me to learn how our propensity to worry really is the same mental system as meditation. We tend to worry automatically. We worry with no focused premise, yet sooner or later we recognize our worry.
Well, meditation is a bit different, in that you must find the focus first.
God tells us to meditate upon His precepts, our behavior, His Word (Ps 119:15; 145); all God has done, His good/miraculous deeds (I Chronicles 16:9; Ps. 77:12 and many other passages).
One particularly good verse is Philippians 4:8, which directs us to meditate upon what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and worthy of praise.
If we follow these lists, we will have no trouble finding Godly things to ruminate upon.
Remember, the biblical meditation includes the practice of deliberation, clarifying facts, not mere suppositions. This word deals with reality … If I reckon that my bank book has $25 in it, it has $25 in it. Otherwise, I am deceiving myself.
As we take control of our thought life, God blesses our obedience. He graces us with peace amid chaos. He provides insight and clarity.
I’ve found it helpful to handwrite a list of God’s blessings and review that occasionally.
He is good, and His faithfulness never changes. Until next week, Anita
Onarecker, an Elgin resident, author of “Divine Appointment: Our Journey to the Bridge” and minister to women and adults, earned a Master of Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2007.
