"O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day" - Psalm 119:97
What a privilege we have of being able to read the Word of God. Most of us have a number of copies of the Bible in our homes. We are reminded in the above verse that we are not only to read it but meditate on it.
One definition for the word "meditation" is "to think in view of doing". According to this definition, how much real meditation do we do? Do we hurriedly read the Bible as a habit, not thinking of what we are reading? Do we read as a duty, because we think as a Christian we should? Or do we pause as we read it, meditating upon it with the view of appropriating it into our lives?
As we read and meditate on it, we need to assimilate it, digesting it that we may be nourished and grow by it. "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:2).
Not only are we to assimilate it for growth, but to practice it in our everyday lives. "But be ye DOERS of the word, and not hearers only" (James 1:22)
David meditated on God's Word because he loved it, and he loved it because he meditated on it. He couldn't get enough of it. He meditated "all the day." It is important to be regular in spending time in His word. We need to keep our minds saturated with it.
Paul challenged Timothy, "Meditate upon these things, give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all" (1 Timothy 4:15).
Meditation is not something we can do hurriedly. The Lord Jesus Christ is revealed to us from the pages of the Bible. Our mediation is to lead us from the Word of God to HIM. We are to consider HIM. Such meditation on Him brings us to our knees in humility and praise. Our hearts overflow with love.
With the psalmist we can say, "My meditation of HIM shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord" (Psalm 104:34)
From Water My Soul...
A New Jerusalem
Revelation 3:7-13; 21
"Could we get to Jerusalem from Grandma's house?" Matthan and I were on the way to Grandma's house for the day when he interrupted my thoughts with his surprising question.
"Uh, yes," I answered. "Yes, you could get to Jerusalem from there if you took the right roads." ...
I will probably never decide to travel to Jerusalem, so I didn't need to be concerned about the way to get there. But what about the New Jerusalem we read about in Revelation 3:12. where it says, "I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem"?
Now that was a place I didn't want to miss seeing. So how was I to get to the New Jerusalem? What road would take me there?
When Matthan asked whether we could get to Jerusalem from Grandma's house, the answer was yes. But first I had to know from where I was starting before I could decide the correct road to travel. In the same way, a desire to arrive someday at the gates of the New Jerusalem must begin inside each individual, and first we have to know where we are.
Is my heart full of bitterness or grudges or envy? Does sin have more of a hold on me that God does? Am I devoted to learning more about the things of God - or am I addicted to things that are harmful? What must be my first step on the road to the New Jerusalem?
It takes that willing first step, and then it takes a second one. It takes choosing the right turns, and the right roads, over and over. Sometimes it will be necessary to backtrack, to start over, to reroute and begin again. Because have you ever known anyone - anyone at all - who ended up on the correct road just by accident? Perhaps, but not very likely.
Taking the narrow, less traveled road that leads to the New Jerusalem involves deliberate thought as well as taking responsibility for our actions. I don't think anyone is going to drift aimlessly through the gate and say in surprise, "Why, how did I end up here?"
Rather, it will be a result of God's grace and Jesus' death on the cross, combined with my daily choices, my daily labor. Each day I must decide where I stand. Can I get to the New Jerusalem from here? Am I on the road that leads in the direction of that holy city?
And if the answer is no, if I've taken steps down a wide bypass or an alley that wanders nowhere, I had better turn around and head back toward the way I should go. God has promised in Psalm 32:8, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye."
Follow Him. He knows the way.
Prayer: Lord, guide my feet along the right roads today. Without your instructions, my feet are sure to wander.
Reflection: What is one choice I could make today to show that I'm choosing to walk towards the New Jerusalem?
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