Biblical Meditation: Get Every Ounce of Nutrition from God’s Word
BY RICK WARREN — OCTOBER 3, 2014
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8 NIV)
I can remember hearing great sermons or in-depth Bible teaching and wondering how the teacher found all those great nuggets of truth in God’s Word. That’s why I wrote my first book 35 years ago: to help people like me. “Rick Warren’s Bible Study Methods” shares 12 methods of Bible study, such as the chapter summary method, the topical method, and the verse-by-verse method, all of them useful for anyone to get the most from God’s Word.
One of my favorites is the devotional Bible study method. If I were to summarize the devotional method in one word, it would be “meditate.” For many, the word “meditate” is a bad word. They associate it with Eastern or New Age religions. Some Christians, when they think of meditation, picture people folding their bodies into pretzels and contemplating the lint on their navel.
That may be Eastern or Buddhist meditation, but it’s not Christian meditation. The Bible uses the word “meditate” 29 times in the New International Version to describe a believer’s devotional life. God wants us to meditate.
He promises us that if we meditate on Scripture, he’ll bless us. Joshua 1:8 says,“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (NIV).
So, according to God, you have to meditate on his Word if you want to be successful.
How do you do it? Grab a dictionary and look up a synonym for “meditation,” and you may find the word “rumination.” You probably don’t know that word unless you happen to be a farmer. Rumination is what a cow does when she chews her cud. She rolls her cud over and over in her mouth.
That’s similar to how you meditate on Scripture. Cows eat the grass, chew it up, and send it to their stomachs pretty quickly. There it lies in the stomach, soaking up all of those acids and chemicals. Then, after a while, the cow burps it back up with a new and renewed flavor, chews on that grass and some other grass, and does the whole process over again. Cows repeat this several times. They get every ounce of nutrition out of the grass.
Biblical meditation is kind of like that; it’s thought digestion. God wants us to get every ounce of spiritual nutrition out of his Word. He wants us to chew on it, digest it, and then chew on it some more.
Talk It Over
- Do you have a place, time, or process for how you spend time with God? How can meditation enhance your quiet time with God?
- What distractions do you need to eliminate so you can meditate on God’s Word?
- What does it mean to you to be “prosperous” or “successful”? What do you think God equates with success?
Appointments of Divine Favor
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:
"For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]."
(Ephesians 2:10, AMP)
(Ephesians 2:10, AMP)
TODAY'S WORD:
God has already prepared paths for you to take in your future! When God laid out the plan for your life, He lined up the right people, the right circumstances and the right breaks. In your future, He’s already released favor, supernatural opportunities and divine connections. The breaks you need in life have already been preordained to come across your path. If you will stay in faith and go out each day and be a person of excellence, you’ll walk right into these appointments of favor. It will be just as if you stumbled into God’s blessings! When you really understand this principle, you’ll begin to get excited about every single day! You’ll have a spring in your step as you think about what blessing is coming next. It could be today. It could be tomorrow. It could be next week. Keep expecting. Keep believing. Stay focused on the fact that God has already released into your future everything you need to fulfill your destiny. Start declaring seasons of increase over your life. Declare that favor is on you and look for those appointments of divine favor!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father, thank You for prearranging a good life for me. Thank You for ordering my steps and directing my path. Help me to understand Your goodness more so that I can know You and stay close to You all the days of my life in Jesus name. Amen.
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