Changi Chapel

We were made to meditate. God designed us with the capacity to pause and ponder.

He means for us to not just hear him, but to reflect on what he says.

It is a distinctively human trait to stop and consider, to chew on something with the teeth of our minds and hearts, to press it deeply into our feelings, to look from different angles and seek to get a better sense of its significance.

Christian meditation is fundamentally different than the “meditation” popularly co-opted in various non-Christian systems like in Yoga or others Eastern religions.

It doesn’t entail emptying our minds, but rather filling them with biblical substance — and then chewing on that content.

For the Christian, meditation means having “the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16)

It is digesting God’s Word slowly, savoring the texture, enjoying the juices, cherishing the flavor of such rich fare.

Man does not live by bread alone, and meditation is slowly relishing the meal.
God told Joshua thrice “Be strong and courageous". How is he to do this? Where will he fill his tank with such strength and courage? Meditation. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night” (Joshua 1:8).

God means not for Joshua to be merely familiar with the Book, or that he read through sections of it quickly in the morning, but that he be captivated by it and build his life on its truths. His spare thoughts should go there, his idle mind gravitate there.

Christian meditation is less about the posture of our bodies, and more about the posture of our souls. It is not about whether you sit on the floor with your legs crossed, or sit on a chair with both feet on the floor and your back straight, palms facing upward.

Christian meditation begins with our eyes in the Book, or ears open to the Word, or a mind stocked with memorized Scripture.

“The reason we come away so cold from reading the Word is, because we do not warm ourselves at the fires of meditation” (Thomas Watson)

You may have read God’s Word today – but did you take time to meditate on it?

David Matthis

© David Matthis – Excerpted, abridged and adapted from his recent writings. You can read the full article at http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/warm-yourself-at-the-fires-of-meditation

Your comments, thoughts or suggestions are welcome. The body text is by the author, the header and the words in italics are mine – John B. Samuel

Twitter: @johnbsamuel