Let us continue our review! Again, this information is from Pastor John. These posts are leading up to something new for us to begin or maybe it is a review for something you've been doing each day. I pray that you will find them useful and that you will be able to reflect back on them as guidance for discovering God's Word each day!

"Maybe before these posts, you didn't know that you were faithful to Lectio, you discovered that God's Word is not something that you just 'fit' into your schedule, but it must soak our entire picture. It's made to be an all-day soaking rain, not a 10-minute violent thunderstorm. In God's economy, searching Him out in His Word is done with a crock pot not a microwave.

Meditation
"I want to talk further about meditation. Psalm 1 says: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." (vs. 1-2 NIV) [The Message paraphrase has a thoughtful take on these verses: "How well God must like you— you don't hang out at Sin Saloon, you don't slink along Dead-End Road, you don't go to Smart-Mouth College. Instead you thrill to God's Word, you chew on Scripture day and night."]

I like the language 'you chew on Scripture day and night.' The Hebrew word here for meditate is 'hagah.' It simply means to reflect on; ponder; to engage in contemplation.And the picture of meditation in the Old Testament is of a cow (or deer or camel or llama) chewing the cud. A cow grabs the stalks of grass and takes them into its mouth and chews awhile, and then swallows. The cud goes into one of its three stomachs where bacteria helps break down the food. Then the cud is regurgitated and the cow chews and chews some more. And this process continues until it's finally broken down and digested.We don't (at least we shouldn't) read the Bible to get a 'buzz', but to get every ounce of nutrition out of it. When we meditate on God's Word, we "chew" it by reading it over and over. We spend time pondering the words and what it reveals about Jesus and His heart for us. Then it sinks down into our hearts, as we go about other things; but later that day, we'll bring it back up again in our mind and dwell on (ponder, reflect on) it some more, and on and on.

Now sometimes Christians are wary of 'meditation' because our picture is of the Eastern or New Age form of meditation. A biblical view of meditation is very different."Eastern meditation is an attempt to empty the mind. Christian meditation is an attempt to fill the mind." (Richard Foster) Transcendental Meditation, Yoga, Zen Buddhism, and other varieties of the Eastern religions try to block out any awareness of objective truth in an attempt to know self. We are seeking to fill our minds and heart with God. "Eastern forms of meditation stress the need to become detached from the world. There is an emphasis upon losing personhood and individuality and merging with the Cosmic Mind. There is a longing to be freed from the burdens and pains of this life and to be released in the impersonality of Nirvana. . . . Detachment is the final goal of Eastern religion." (Richard Foster)"Christian meditation goes far beyond the notion of detachment. . . . Detachment is not enough, we must go on to attachment. The detachment from confusion all around us is in order to have a richer attachment to God. Christian meditation leads us to the inner wholeness necessary to give ourselves to God freely." (Richard Foster)

So meditation is not about a mindless searching for emptiness, but an active seeking of God. "Happy are those who obey his decrees and search for him with all their hearts." (Psalm 119:2)Kenneth Boa says that "to rush this process is like running through an art gallery." I pray that this week God will help you to further be able to stop and gaze at every painting. I, like you, desire to be blessed. And God is clear that those who 'chew on' His Word will know the blessing of His presence."