MEDITATION: Time to think
I love to sit in coffee shops, they are probably the most relaxing places on Earth and I’m not the only one who thinks so. I’ve shared before that after work at Christ’s Body I would often go directly to a coffee shop to sit and pray about what I was experiencing. Coffee on the Point specifically was a good place to just go and sit for awhile without interruption. It was a chance to focus my thoughts on God and allow Him to heal the torrent of emotions that had me under siege all day because of the hardships of the homeless I was working with.
It was in this coffee shop in Denver that I learned to meditate, learned to think about the things above instead of the things below. If I hadn’t had those times I’m sure now that the heartache would have driven me crazy and caused a huge amount of burnout. So this is a discipline I would say is necessary, not that they all aren’t, but this one in particular allows us to get our minds off of things, if only for a moment, and into the mind of Christ.
Different Meditation
Now I know when someone mentions the discipline of meditation everyone’s minds instantly envision a man in a funny looking hat sitting cross-legged on the ground say “ommm” and for the most part this is what popular culture depicts it as. There’s a scene in Annie where the girls come across Pune Jab meditating and they get very afraid.
This isn’t the type of meditation I’m talking about, this is a type of Eastern Meditation meant for those who want to look deep inside themselves. Christian Meditation is different, Christian Meditation can take place everywhere you go, no one has to know that you are doing it, and is highly beneficial to our Christian walks.
Christian George writes; “Meditation moves us to a deep and penetrating presence of God. It charts the inner landscapes of the soul and teaches us to adopt the mind of Christ…Meditation syncs us with the savior in a way the other disciplines do not” (109).
What Do We Meditate on?
But what is it that we meditate on? Paul tells the Philippians at the end of his letter to them “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil 4:8 NIV).
Look at the list, whatever is; true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, anything excellent or praiseworthy. These are the things that we need to meditate on; it is these things, in relationship to God that should fill our minds every day. We should desire and want these things because we are different from the world and what the world often meditates on (sex, drugs, alcohol) are in no way honorable in the context they we tend to think about them.
If we do meditate on these things we’ll find a whole new world opened up to us, suddenly our vision won’t be the same. Our minds also won’t be the same, we’ll find that we can’t get our minds off them. That the things of God really are real, alive, active and penetrating in ways we never could have imagined.
Meditating on Scripture
My favorite thing to do is meditate on scripture, especially the psalms. Recently I’ve spent a lot of time thinking on Psalm 25:12 which says “Who is the man who fears the Lord, Him will He instruct in the way he should choose.” The reason I’ve spent so much time meditating on this verse is because of situations in my life where I need more than anything for God to instruct my paths.
This scripture also has a lot to unpack and think about, like what does it mean to fear the Lord? And. How does God instruct us in the way we should go? Through meditating on these two questions God has led me to other passages, such as Isaiah 6:1-7 and Israel’s encounters with God in Exodus 18. So through meditating on this one verse suddenly a whole new idea is opened up to me.
Scripture meditation is extremely beneficial, especially if we want to be like the Psalmist in 119 who says “I have hidden your words in my heart that I might not sin against you” (v. 11). Or follow the example of the writer of Hebrews when he considers the word of God and the name of God to be a place of rest, so that we might not disobey.
To Be Set Apart
I’m coming to find that it is times of mediation that I am finding out what it truly means to be truly set apart for the gospel. That as I’ve thought over scriptures like Ephesians 5:3-6 that I’ve learned to cut out things like course Joking and work towards a humor that is holy. It is through thinking on what is right that I have been really challenged by conversations with a close friend of mine. It is through meditating on what it means to be a man of God that I’ve actually found myself becoming a man of God.
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So today I want to challenge you to go off someplace, a park or a coffee shop, and think about the things of God. Take your bible and try to memorize a psalm, then meditate on that psalm one day at a time. Really think about what it means to be a man or woman of God allow Him to speak to you about the things you are thinking on. Enter into His presence and allow Him to make the toughest subjects fun again.
God Bless You
Jonathan David Faulkner
10:31 Life Ministries
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving
His courts with praise
Give thanks to the Lord
Bless His Name”
Ps 100:4
Week #1: Good Discipline
Week #2: Good Discipline – Prayer
Week #3: Good Discipline – Obedience
Week #4: Good Discipline – Art
Week #5: Good Discipline – Journaling
Week #6: Good Discipline – Silence
Week #7: Good Discipline – Fasting
Week #8: Good Discipline – Vow Making
Week #9: Good Discipline – Labyrinth Walking
Week #10: Good Discipline – Meditation
Week #11: Good Discipline – Solitude
Week #12: Good Discipline – Practicing God’s Presence
