Take just a second and think about your day-to-day life. With the responsibilities that many people have today, there isn’t much time to stop and think. Our modern, civilized, up-to-date world leaves us very little time to ponder.
As I'm sure I've mentioned previously, our pastor is going through a series on the mind of God versus the mind of Man, as well as other verses on thinking, meditating, etc. Last night, we started looking at the verses in the Bible that refer to meditating.
According to Webster’s 1828 dictionary, here’s what the word meditate means:
- To dwell on any thing in thought; to contemplate; to study; to turn or revolve any subject in the mind; appropriately but not exclusively used of pious contemplation, or a consideration of the truths of religion.
- To intend; to have in contemplation.
- To think on; to revolve in the mind.
Joshua 1:8 says, “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.”
What was the purpose of the meditation? “That thou mayest observe to do.” If we think on God’s word, we will be more likely to heed its commands.
Meeting the needs of our families (especially the father providing for his wife and children) is a biblical requirement. However, the Lord also tells us not to neglect our spiritual lives. As we’re running about, fulfilling all our responsibilities, let’s be certain to ask ourselves, “Is this the best use of my time?” “Is this going to matter in eternity?”
In order to be successful at something, some level of thought must be devoted to it. If your husband wants to be a successful businessman in order to provide for his family, he is going to have to devote some time to thinking about his business. If you want to be the best wife and mother in the world, you are going to have to ponder how you can best serve your family. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with either of those things. But, don’t we want to be the best Christians we can be, too? Have you been meditating on what the Bible commands Christians to do? Have I?
Psalm 1:2 says, “But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”
Is our delight in the law of the Lord? Is dwelling on the precious word of God one of the things that makes you happy?
Psalm 5:1: Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.
Have you ever been walking by a group of people talking and as soon as you walked by, the people stopped talking. Doesn’t make you feel very comfortable, does it? You begin to wonder, were they talking about me? Were they talking about my kids? My husband? Have we ever been guilty of the same thing? If we’re worried about that those people walking by my hear what we’re saying, we certainly need to stop and remember God is always listening to what we say and think!
This was a help to me, so I wanted to share it with you. There are battles different people deal with. There are probably very few of us who struggle with drinking or drugs; but there are people like that. This is something I would say we all struggle with: How do I get everything done and still keep my mind stayed on Jesus Christ?
Side note: Why I don't capitalize the w in word when I'm referring to the Bible.
I thought some of you might be wondering. In John 1, the Bible refers to Jesus Christ as the Word. When the Bible refers to the words of God, the w is never upper case. Thus, when I talk about the word of God, I don't capitalize it. If I were to refer to Jesus Christ as the Word, I would capitalize it.
