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 good success" (Joshua 1.8).
You have probably heard about meditation in a secular context. Many people in our country have been exposed to the idea of meditation as a relaxation method or as a way to focus the mind. Some religions, like Buddhism, also teach their adherents to meditate. The practice of meditation in this context usually involves clearing the mind of all thought. The point is to silence the thoughts and experience a rest from all of the busyness of modern life.
Meditation is also a Biblical practice and is one of the spiritual disciplines that Christians have used for centuries. But the Christian practice is very different from the secular method or the teachings of Eastern religions like Buddhism.
The whole point of Biblical meditation is to FILL the mind, not to empty the mind. To meditate is to think, to reflect, and to do so in a deep and sustained manner. The mind should be filled with the Word of God, which is the content of the thought and sustained meditation.
Setting aside time to meditate on the Word of God ranks very highly among other common spiritual disciplines, like prayer, Scripture reading, and fasting. Reading the Word of God in Scripture has often been compared to the physical act of eating. The body needs food. The food of the soul is the Word of God. If we stay with that metaphor of eating, meditation is like digestion. Our physical bodies take care of the digestion of food without our minds having to think consciously. But spiritual digestion is different. The mind does not stop working after reading the Word of God. There must be some meditation or digestion.
Let me give you an example of what meditation looks like. When we read the Scriptures we often come across things that are new, strange, or even mysterious to our minds. Meditation is an attempt to understand what God has said. When we meditate on what we have read in Scripture, our minds can begin to clarify things and we also allow for the work of the Holy Spirit, who illuminates our minds and helps us understand the written Word. The second part of meditation involves the application of the Scriptures. It is common for preachers and teachers to attempt to apply the Word of God to the lives of their hearers. But everyone who reads Scripture should be asking how the Word of God can be applied to life. We must ask questions when we read Scripture and meditate to formulate answers to questions like "what is there in this passage that I need to obey?"
Spiritual growth involves time and some discipline, just like anything else we accomplish in life. We have help from the Holy Spirit, but we still have to put in the effort to read, study, and meditate on the Word of God. This is not just the job of preachers and teachers in the Church. Every believer should be setting aside time to meditate and think deeply about the things of God. I can think of nothing else that is so vital to spiritual life as this simple discipline.
Unfortunately, we live in a culture that does not value thought at all. Most people run on their feelings rather than on sustained thought and reflection. And because of media we are in the habit of shutting down our minds down and just entertaining ourselves.
There is nothing wrong with times of relaxation and rest. In fact, this is also a spiritual discipline. But periods of rest are for the purpose of refreshing ourselves so that we can return to our real occupation. The main occupation of a child of God is to know God through His word. This involves taking time to meditate and fill our minds with Divine truth.
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