matheteou
January 20th, 2008, 03:25 PM
There has been a plethora of threads elsewhere on the evils of meditation or how it's pure new age, etc. I'm wondering if we may not be becoming "gun shy" so to speak about a word and in a sense, sometimes "throwing the baby out with the bath water" just because a brother or sister use the word "mediation"?
I put this here because I do believe it belongs in "Bible Study" as a study and not in "Apologetics" as a defense of the faith.
Something to ponder: Meditate on God’s Word
Do you think of Christian meditation as a pleasant pastime for retirees or other people with a leisurely schedule? Do you think it is a nonessential for successful spiritual living? If so, think of what God told Joshua about meditating: “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 success” (Josh. 1:8). Meditation in the Word is a noteworthy mark of the godly person according to Psalm 1:2: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”
Both Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:2 teach continual meditation. Start meditating when you awake in the morning and keep on meditating until you go to bed. Then sleep on your meditative thoughts from the Word and they will likely be your first thoughts when you awake in the morning (Ps. 4:4; 63:6; 77:6; 139:17–18). Biblical meditation keeps God, His works, and His Word uppermost in our thoughts throughout the day. As we meditate on the Word and apply it, the Spirit can use it in sanctifying us.
The following three principles can help us be more effective in biblical meditation.
• Christian meditation requires biblical knowledge. Christian meditation assumes that biblical knowledge is held in memory or retrieved from some type of storage. The more Scripture we have memorized, the greater scope of God’s truth we have available for meditation.
Regularly reading and memorizing Scripture is one of the first habits that new Christians should develop. Reading the entire Bible and memorizing key verses from various parts of the Scriptures help familiarize us with “the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27). Then with verses stored in our memory, we can meditate anytime and anywhere even without Scripture in printed or other recorded form. Someday some Christians may have only the Scriptures they have memorized!
• Christian meditation means to reflect on, ponder, or consider a scriptural word, phrase, clause, or portion, particularly concerning God, His character, His works, and our relationship to Him. As the psalmist Asaph wrote, “I will meditate on all Thy work and muse on Thy deeds” (Ps. 77:12).
Meditation is an activity of the heart, and in Hebrew thought the heart generally refers to one’s personality, including the intellect, will, and emotions (4:4; 19:14; 77:6). Thus biblical meditation should involve and influence our thoughts, decisions, and affections.
Stimulate your meditation on biblical truth by asking these three questions: What does it mean? How does it relate to other biblical truth? How does it apply to my relationship to God and to my personal, family, church, vocational, and social life?
• Christians are to meditate by filling their minds and hearts with thoughts about the triune God, His attributes, His works, His Word, and whatever accords with His character. Thus Christian meditation differs significantly from Eastern meditation since the latter is an attempt to empty the mind.
When we meditate on God’s Word and obey it, He promises us a fruitful spiritual life (Josh. 1:8–9; Ps. 1:2–3). Meditating on God’s Word helps us grow in our relationship to the Lord (63:6–8), helps us receive guidance from Him, gives us “perfect peace” (Is. 26:3), and fills us with praise and thanks to God.
Swindoll, C. R., & Zuck, R. B. (2003). Understanding Christian theology (1020). Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
I put this here because I do believe it belongs in "Bible Study" as a study and not in "Apologetics" as a defense of the faith.
Something to ponder: Meditate on God’s Word
Do you think of Christian meditation as a pleasant pastime for retirees or other people with a leisurely schedule? Do you think it is a nonessential for successful spiritual living? If so, think of what God told Joshua about meditating: “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 success” (Josh. 1:8). Meditation in the Word is a noteworthy mark of the godly person according to Psalm 1:2: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”
Both Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:2 teach continual meditation. Start meditating when you awake in the morning and keep on meditating until you go to bed. Then sleep on your meditative thoughts from the Word and they will likely be your first thoughts when you awake in the morning (Ps. 4:4; 63:6; 77:6; 139:17–18). Biblical meditation keeps God, His works, and His Word uppermost in our thoughts throughout the day. As we meditate on the Word and apply it, the Spirit can use it in sanctifying us.
The following three principles can help us be more effective in biblical meditation.
• Christian meditation requires biblical knowledge. Christian meditation assumes that biblical knowledge is held in memory or retrieved from some type of storage. The more Scripture we have memorized, the greater scope of God’s truth we have available for meditation.
Regularly reading and memorizing Scripture is one of the first habits that new Christians should develop. Reading the entire Bible and memorizing key verses from various parts of the Scriptures help familiarize us with “the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27). Then with verses stored in our memory, we can meditate anytime and anywhere even without Scripture in printed or other recorded form. Someday some Christians may have only the Scriptures they have memorized!
• Christian meditation means to reflect on, ponder, or consider a scriptural word, phrase, clause, or portion, particularly concerning God, His character, His works, and our relationship to Him. As the psalmist Asaph wrote, “I will meditate on all Thy work and muse on Thy deeds” (Ps. 77:12).
Meditation is an activity of the heart, and in Hebrew thought the heart generally refers to one’s personality, including the intellect, will, and emotions (4:4; 19:14; 77:6). Thus biblical meditation should involve and influence our thoughts, decisions, and affections.
Stimulate your meditation on biblical truth by asking these three questions: What does it mean? How does it relate to other biblical truth? How does it apply to my relationship to God and to my personal, family, church, vocational, and social life?
• Christians are to meditate by filling their minds and hearts with thoughts about the triune God, His attributes, His works, His Word, and whatever accords with His character. Thus Christian meditation differs significantly from Eastern meditation since the latter is an attempt to empty the mind.
When we meditate on God’s Word and obey it, He promises us a fruitful spiritual life (Josh. 1:8–9; Ps. 1:2–3). Meditating on God’s Word helps us grow in our relationship to the Lord (63:6–8), helps us receive guidance from Him, gives us “perfect peace” (Is. 26:3), and fills us with praise and thanks to God.
Swindoll, C. R., & Zuck, R. B. (2003). Understanding Christian theology (1020). Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers.