The Contented Life Daily DevotionalIhe Atụ

Meditate On God's Word

When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He had to take control of His thoughts, and how He did so was by immediately quoting scripture. He effectively chased out wrong thoughts by focusing on God's Word. Clearly, Jesus spent a lot of time memorizing and meditating on scripture.

The word "meditation" likely conjures up many things in your mind, most of which are not Bible-based. Most people connect it with Eastern mysticism and moving yourself into a mindless state. But that is far from the Bible's exhortation to meditate.

Growing up on a farm, I was intrigued by watching cows chewing on something when I could see they clearly had no food in front of them. They were "ruminating" or "chewing their cud" — actually bringing food back up that they'd already swallowed to chew on it some more. Doing so extracted more food value from it. That sounds gross, but it's a helpful image.

The Biblical perspective on meditation is to memorize scripture, recall it, reflect on it, and ruminate on it. You see, you meditate all the time, whether you know it or not. The question is, what are you meditating on? If you are anxious, you probably meditate on all the bad things you imagine could happen.

Memorize promises from God's Word and meditate on those. Then, if you wake up in the middle of the night and are having trouble sleeping, reflect on the scriptures you have put to memory — meditate on them.

God told Joshua to "Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do" Joshua 1:8-9. God still has the same message for you today. He wants you to know Him and His Word.

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By: Allan Burnett