The Weekly Epistle 8/5/20

I remember my grandpa when he would be working on a project would mutter to himself.  I was curious about that until one day when working in the garage I was doing the same thing.  I was talking under my breath to myself.  Then I realized that this was biblical.  
 
The word “meditate” means to mutter.  When Joshua was told to meditate on the Book of the Law, day and night, he was to call to mind God’s Word and in essence talk to himself about the Word of God.  Meditating on God’s Word is to ask yourself questions about the truth.  The idea is to ponder what you read.  It is to think intensely on the words of Scripture.  Biblical meditation is different than Transcendental Meditation or any other type of meditation that calls you to empty your mind of rational thought.  It is the exact opposite of that dangerous practice.  Biblical meditation engages the heart and mind.  
 
Biblical meditation is a lost art today.  We are too much in a hurry to ponder a passage of Scripture.  We fight silence.  We aren’t good at slowing down.  Biblical meditation takes time.  We get restless thinking on one passage when there is so much more of the Bible to read. 
 
I want to encourage you to practice the discipline of Biblical meditation.  Take a passage of Scripture and read just a few verses then think through what those verses are saying.  Ask yourself questions about the truth, like, “What difference does this truth make in my life?  What do these verses say about living the Christian life?  How does this lead to praise to God or what should be my response to this?”  Talk to yourself about the passage.
 
Perhaps you could meditate on the passage of Scripture we will be looking at this Sunday, Philippians 3:1-11.  It is a long passage so chew on it in smaller chunks, like 1-6, 7-9, 10-11.  The point is, take time to chew over in your mind the Word of God.  You will be better for it.  
 
The Psalmist states that the one who does this is “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers” (see Psalm 1).  Tim Keller shares this insight on Psalm 1.  “Trees don’t grow overnight.  Meditation is a sustained process like a tree growing its roots down toward the water source.  The effects are cumulative.  You must stick with it.”  
 
Church stick with it.  Put your roots into Scripture.  It is then you will not be tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching, as Paul puts it in Ephesians 4:14. 
 
Blessings to you, Pastor Brian