Meditate

"I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways."
(Psalm 119:15)

Meditation is a lost art today. Nobody seems to have the time to meditate. In the rush of things that we must do, places to go, wee just do not seem to have the time to meditate. But I don't believe that people don't have the time to meditate today; I believe they just don't know how to meditate, or they don't take the time to meditate.

The Lord's first command to Joshua was to meditate upon the Word of God. He was commanded to meditate upon it day and night. If he did this he was told that he would be a successful warrior for God. How can we who live in the busy twentieth century have the time to meditate? Let me suggest a few ways.

First, we must have the Word of God in our hearts. To do this we must have the Incarnate Word in our hearts. Then we must take time to memorize God's Word.

Second, as we drive our cars, or walk, or jog, or ride our bicycles we will turn the verse over in our heads. We will think about each phrase and each thought. We will think about what the writer meant when wrote those words. We will wonder what he felt as he penned those lines. We will think about what God is saying to mankind today and we will think about what God is saying to me today.

Third, we should pray God's words back to Him. Claim His promises. Pray the prayers of the saints of old. This can be done as we walk with Him or as we meet with Him in our prayer closets.

Fourth, when we lay upon our beds and cannot sleep we need to take the time to pray and meditate upon the Word of God. Maybe God has aroused us to pray for a special need. Maybe it is just the quiet time when our thoughts can be turned to Him alone without the pressures of life squeezing them out.

Then we will be able to pray as the Psalmist prayed, "I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways."