The next step after memorizing scripture is not just to wait for sin to come knocking. Meditation on God's Word is such an important part of our walk with the Lord. The goal of meditating on scripture is to apply it, to make it real, to make it a part of you. Let's take Joshua 1:9 further. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
What is meditation? We are so used to seeing the world's version of meditation in movies and books that we may not even know any other way to do it. It isn't hard. The world may take a word or syllable or sound and repeat it over and over. Sorry, but that does not do anything. Try this. Take God's word that you've treasured in your heart, go over that a few times. The Hebrew and Greek words used for "meditate" literally mean: to murmur, to ponder, to imagine, to talk to yourself. One word, ruminate, is used to describe a cow chewing its cud. The grass gets chewed and goes down to one stomach for a while then up it comes for a second chew. Then down it goes to another stomach and up it comes for another chewing. The process goes on. That is how the cow gets the food broken down so it can be best used by the body. That is the idea we see in scripture of how to meditate on God's word.
Another way to explain meditation is to compare it to worrying. What? Yes, worrying. Do you know how to worry? What are the things you worry about? When you are driving car or mowing the yard those doggone bills keep popping into your head or that situation at work that is bugging you. Or when you are taking a walk to "clear your mind" and all you do it fret about an illness or retirement or your teenage child. That is what I mean by worrying. When you think about something over and over and from every different angle and you think what if this happens or what if that happens…. THAT is meditating. Now take it to the realm of God's Word.
Say the verse right now and begin meditating on it. Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
After the verse is memorized, begin to ask yourself these questions.
- What does the verse mean at face value?
- Who is speaking, who is being spoken to and why?
- Say the verse out loud – no one is watching you while you drive, go ahead.
- Look at the context of the verse – how does the verse/ verses before it help with the understanding?
- How do the verses after it help create the setting for the verse?
- Read even a larger section of scripture – a whole chapter or two before and after. How does that add to the meaning of the verse?
- Are there other verses in scripture similar to this one? Use a concordance to find some.
- Are there verses in scripture that seem to disagree with this one?
- What does this verse teach me about God that I already knew?
- What does this verse teach me that I did not know?
- Look at the word order, switch some of the words around, how does that change the meaning?
- Say the verse over and each time emphasize a different word- listen how that changes the meaning of the verse.
- Have I not commanded you?….
- Have I NOT commanded you?….
- Have I not COMMANDED you?....
- ….be STRONG and courageous!....
- ….be strong AND courageous!….
- Okay, okay you get the idea.
- Have I not commanded you?….
- What might happen if I do what this verse is talking about?
- What might happen if I don't do what this verse is talking about?
- Pick out a few key words- define them. Find a verse or two with the same word, how does that word fit in that verse? Get out the dusty Strong's Concordance or just Google it.
- Paraphrase the verse in your own words.
- Read the verse in 10 different translations- note what words are different and how those words give the verse a slightly different meaning. It is easy to find lots of translations on the internet. Just type in Joshua 1:9 in a Google search.
When do you do this? One of the keys to is this….you don't do it all sitting at the kitchen table. Some of it you will have to look up and read or write down, but the majority is not done at a desk. You do it while mowing the yard or raking leaves, while cleaning out the nasty child seat in your car, while walking the dog or washing the dog, while running, riding a bike or exercising, while cooking, while doing just about any task that does not require a lot of thinking. There are probably even times at work when you are waiting for the copier to warm up or when you are going to get some coffee, unloading a truck, putting away merchandise, getting Starbucks for your boss, whenever. There are bits of time you can pull up a phrase of the verse and chew on it.
This may seem very structured, contrived, calculated and rigid. It's not meant to be but you have to get in there and tear the verse apart. Work on it, work through it. After a few days or a week you'll probably be amazed at how some of the ideas and concepts start coming together. The phrases of the verse will just pop into your mind at times. And it will become part of the way you think. You might even catch yourself saying some of the words or ideas to someone – ooo, what a concept – actually applying God's Word to your everyday life.
Here are some good ones to start with.
Joshua 1:9….how does verse 8 impact verse 9, is the idea of courage repeated?
Psalm 1:2 ….but I don't delight in the laws of God….why should I?
Psalm 119:105…why is the Word a lamp, think what a flashlight does during a hike on a dark path in an unfamiliar area?
Psalm 119:11…what question is in verse 9, what is the answer?
Nehemiah 4:14…what caused the fear, what happened?
Hebrews 12:1-2….who is being spoken of, what is our motivation?
Hebrews 10:23…what is our strength to remain true, what do the following verses tell us to do also?
Philippians 4:1….what is our strength?
Romans 6:11-12….why does it say "even so", what is that referring to? How do chapter 5 and the rest of 6 address this issue of sin?
Dude, pick a verse and do it.
Be encouraged, lead your families and friends to know Him more,
Philip Buford
Thanks for today's blog posting to:
Philip Buford
Thanks,
Gary
gkendall@KendallSystems.com
"While it is hard to motivate someone with no Vision, it is almost
impossible to stop someone with a Vision." - gary kendall
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