Lastweek, I said we would look at a technique that helps us get the most value from
studying the word. Well, it is no secret; this technique is called meditation.
.
Meditation
mɛdɪˈteɪʃ(ə)n/
The
action or practice of meditating.
synonyms:
|
contemplation,
thought,
thinking,
musing,
pondering, consideration,
reflection,
prayer,
deliberation,
study,
rumination, cogitation,
brooding,
mulling over, reverie,
brown study, concentration,
speculation;
"cultivating
the presence of God in meditation and prayer"
|
 |
| You have to hand it to this kid, he sure will know how to meditate |
Granted,
meditation helps us grow in the faith (hint: see dictionary use above). For the pernickety (interesting word), this post isn’t about
yoga, anything ‘new agey’, hippie or Eastern religion. This is about the
mediation God
Himself prescribed to Joshua-verbatim.
Almost
every sermon on how to grow in the faith prescribes meditating daily on the
word of God, and rightfully so. Over and again, we see in the scriptures the
need to brood over the word, to turn it over and over in our minds, to let it
move within our hearts as Spirit of God moved over the waters thus preparing
the earth to respond at the speed of light when Elohim said “Let there be
light!”
That
is what meditation does. It switches on the light on our inner man and the
truth of God dawns on us the way that only His Spirit can make possible.
Now,
with this exposition, you would think I’m an expert at meditating daily. I
wish. I have tried enough to attest that it works but I just can’t do it as
often as I should which is daily.
You
see, yours truly has a very flighty mind. I can pay 100% attention to a sermon
and in personal study, but my meditation goes like this: say, I’m meditating on
“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” I go “these three things….hmmm, it’s like the trinity. Father, Jesus, Spirit…like my siblings and me. We are three too. I wonder what’s with me and threes. I have always had my friends in threes. No wonder I can hardly choose a ‘best friend’. Speaking of friends, I should check on so and so once I’m through meditating…There are three stars beside the moon now. I’ve always seen three stars everywhere I go. Is it just me or do the stars tell us something...? Oh, it’s a full moon tonight. Thank God! Yeah, God…Father, Jesus, Spirit…How did my thoughts get here?
That’s how my meditation goes many times. If I could do something about
it, I would. I know there is a lot to be gained from meditating on God’s word
so how do I get my piece of the pie (yes that is righteous covetousness).
So, here I am asking you all to help. Has anyone ever walked this path
and successfully trained their flighty minds to dwell on the word? How did you
do it? Got any tips or resources to share? I would be more than willing to hear
them and try them out.
It sounds amusing but this is a serious matter. Part of our
fight of faith is the need to possess our minds. The body is already
irredeemably condemned to death; the spirit belongs to Jesus so you sort of
have a one-one draw. The tipping point for who controls us will be decided on what controls
the mind. I improve the chances of letting The Spirit of God win if my mind is
saturated with the word in meditation.
If you have
a mind that refuses to meditate, don’t worry; I’m pretty sure someone will give
us a clue on what to do. We can also pray about it. Right? It just occurred to me that
I have never prayed for the grace to meditate. Will it be weird or lazy to pray that? It
is definitely worth a try.
So, help
the brethren, just how on earth do you meditate without drifting into
remembering the previous episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Picture from www.christyfitzwater.com
No comments:
Post a Comment