TUESDAY 31st
The third point for this week’s theme is, ‘believers walk with God by meditation on the Word of God.’
On Sunday we considered the importance of reading God’s Word, todays point develops the thought a little further and that is upon reading the Word, the believer needs to spend time meditating upon it.
What is meditation? It means to muse, mull over something and with Biblical meditation it means to mutter.
Some forms of meditation can be extremely dangerous as it requires one to empty one’s mind of every thought and this leaves the mind open for the devil to fill. Biblical meditation has nothing to do with emptying the mind, but of reading the Word of God and filling your mind with Scripture and then spending time mulling it over, even muttering or repeating in such a way to enable us to remember it.
When it comes to Bible meditation, it is more than a mind exercise for it is linked to the heart as well as we see in Psalm 19:14 ‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.’ The godly person should make meditation a daily practise. Psalm 1:2 ‘. . . but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.’ Psalm 119:97 ‘Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.’ In fact, when we go back in time to Joshua, when he was called to succeed Moses in leading the Children of Israel into the promise land, God gave him a promise that he would be with him, and that he (Joshua) was to be strong and courageous and that he was to be careful to keep all that the law commanded and that he should MEDITATE upon it day and night, so he may be careful to do according to all that was written in it. (Joshua 1:5-9)
Meditation should be part and parcel of our walk with God, for as we saw in Sundays devotion, reading the Word is essential to our spiritual well-being for it is our spiritual guide book, showing who we are in Christ and how we should be living as citizens of a heavenly kingdom. Often when we read something, we can forget in the next minute what we have just read, and the devil would love this to happen to us when we read God’s Word. Learning to meditate helps us to be able to memorize it and it is amazing how often Scripture memorised will come back to us when we need it. So, the best way of reading the Word is to not just read but to absorb or remember it as well so that we can recall it, and this requires healthy Biblical meditation.
It is during times like what we are going through today, when we cannot meet together that we can truly value the practise of Biblical meditation, for as we have time to spend in isolation, the Word meditated and memorised will keep coming to the forefront of our minds reminding us that God is in control, he knows the way we take, he know the end from the beginning. The Word we have loved and continue to love gives us continual hope.
You may have noticed I didn’t put a Scripture to read at the beginning, instead I want to place one here at the end. Take time to read it and to meditate upon it – remember God is in control. The Scripture is Matthew 6:25-34
Why should I be discouraged and why should the shadows fall?
Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home?
When Jesus is my portion, my constant Friend is He,
His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.
I sing because I’m happy;
I sing because I’m free;
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me.
Let not your heart be troubled; these tender words I hear;
And resting on his goodness I lose my doubts and fears;
For by the path He leadeth but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.
Whenever I am tempted; whenever clouds arise;
When songs give place to sighing; when hope within me dies;
I draw the closer to Him; from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.
Lynda Randle CCLI 788682