THE VALUE OF MEDITATION ROSS SMITH
ALL REFERENCES FROM AMPLIFIED VERSION UNLESS NOTED
2 Timothy 2:7 THINK OVER THESE THINGS (In other words, “MEDITATE” .. comments mine) I am saying (In fact he is repeating) [understand them and grasp their application], (Another way of saying “DO IT, or put it into practice) for the Lord will grant you full insight and understanding in everything.
There are three things that follow a progression,
- Firstly we must MEDITATE,
- Then we must UNDERSTAND,
- And then PUT IT INTO PRACTICE.
If there is no meditation or thinking over, then there will be no understanding, resulting in no action. Maybe this is why so many of the keys the Lord has shared with us still lie on the table, unused for their purpose.
Paul has been repeating his prior instructions regarding “reliable and faithful men, the expected hardships to be faced, the separation of civilian and service life, and the hard work expected to produce fruit.” None of these areas are foreign to us except in our consistency, and that’s what he sums up in verse 7, “THINK/UNDERSTAND/ACT.”
Before proceeding, let me clarify that “MEDITATION” as referred to in this study has absolutely no resemblance to the “MEDITATION” indulged in both by Eastern religions and “new age” proponents.
In a day and age where mediation is growing widely more popular, it is easy for Christians to get confused, and obvious sign of a fragile relationship for “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33 ), but He is the author of the “BOOK” meant to be understood. Frequently, Christians will shy away from meditation because they associate it with other world religions.
THINK OVER THESE THINGS
The difference between Eastern Meditation and Christian Meditation is the goal behind each practice. In Eastern Meditation, the goal is to empty one’s mind with the intention to connect with essential nature. Christian meditation aims to fill one’s mind with Scripture with the intent to connect with God.
Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the MEDITATION OF MY HEART (In my terms, that is the examination of motives) be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.
Have the things that have circulated in our mind in the last 24-hours or even the last couple of hours being “ACCEPTABLE IN HIS SIGHT”?
The “MEDITATION OF MY HEART” in practical terms IS the “EXAMINATION OF MY MOTIVES.”
There are other meditational forms, one of which is called “contemplative prayer.” This has at the core a dangerous premise that suggests we need to “hear God’s voice,” not through His Word, but through personal revelation and through improper meditation.”
God’s Word is sufficient; (our primary “THINK OVER”) it is that which is “GOD-BREATHED and is GIVEN BY HIS INSPIRATION and PROFITABLE (When we “grasp the application .. comments mine) for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), SO THAT the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
If the Bible is able to thoroughly equip us for every good work, how could we think we need to seek a mystical experience instead of or in addition to it?
MEDITATION is not just sitting still, staring off into the distance, and waiting for the Lord to “zap us”; it requires much more. It involves commitment, time, an interesting or enlightened scripture, a quiet place, and a sensitive attitude, such as,
- Motive
- Material
- Management of mind
- Self-control, exclusion of distraction (Matthew 6:6)
- And an extended duration or time frame (Joshua 1:8), God told Joshua to “meditate” on his law day and night.
Some say that they find it hard to meditate, but dare I suggest we are well-practiced in the skill, just not in the subject. We “MEDITATE” upon things all day, what we have to do next, what we will have for dinner, where we want to go tomorrow, and the worst of all, the occasions when we engage in silent debate; this is the meditation of the worst sort.
God’s Word is quick and powerful (Heb 4:12), and when we meditate on God’s Word, His Word changes us and then uses that Word to change others as we share the inspiration of His Word. MEDITATION will introduce us to that dimension David spoke of and is a two-way street when conducted as we should.
Psalm 104:34 MAY MY MEDITATION BE SWEET TO HIM; as for me, I will rejoice in the Lord. (This will be the case when Proverbs 16:3 is a habitual practice, our rolling our works, or acknowledging Him will “cause our thoughts to become agreeable to His will.”
I have indicated previously that to cite Scripture without explanation constitutes a “Form of godliness,” there needs to be that appreciation of God speaking directly to us, without any ambiguity. Paul told the Corinthians in no uncertain terms, and in KJV says, “for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”
Our influence, THAT WHICH WE PROFESS, becomes richer and stronger when PRECEPT and EXAMPLE unite.
2 Corinthians 3:6 It is He Who has qualified us [making us to be FIT and WORTHY and SUFFICIENT] as ministers and dispensers of a new covenant [of salvation through Christ], not [ministers] of the letter (of legally written code) but of the Spirit; for the code [of the Law] kills, but THE [HOLY] SPIRIT MAKES ALIVE.
KJV uses the words “ABLE MINISTERS” for “FIT, WORTHY, SUFFICIENT,” but able ministers were never meant to convey a notion of cleverness or talent or acceptableness in themselves; God had made them such.
Paul has laid out the terms, “not just the letter,” not just the repetition of Scripture, but a Holy Spirit inspired, alive, God-breathed utterance.
When we are reading Scripture frequently a verse will have some appeal or attract our attention, so we often write it down. Then we blithely proceed, and by the time we finish our reading, we may have recorded several such verses, but what have we learned?
There is a characteristic of those ambitious to be “spiritual men,” and 1 Corinthians 2:15 says, “he tries all things, examines, investigates, inquires into, questions and discerns all things.” How comprehensive is the spiritual man in his pursuit through “THOUGHT and STUDY” and a concise example for us to follow. This expansion of “THINK OVER” is noteworthy if we have the slightest inclination to be representatives of the King and lead a life of contrast.
It is like the schoolteacher telling us to read a paragraph in the textbook, and we do so but have only read the instruction and not learned the lesson.
When our attention is arrested by verse, do not just press on reading. Find out, by study, research, contemplation, and meditation, that “THINK OVER THESE THINGS,” why the verse is important, what was it that drew our attention. What is the connection between the breath of God in that verse and the quickening of our spirit, faint and gentle as it may be, but is the gentle knocking by the Holy Spirit to bring us light? I like to think this experience is a “spiritual resonance,” our spirit in tune with His spirit.
The time spent in reading a verse without meditating upon it is about the same duration it will be retained unless it has been studied and contemplated; it is not “written on our heart.” That’s why Mark 4:24 is so essential; we must “LISTEN to what we hear,” not just acknowledge it and press on. Let us break this verse apart a little.
THOUGHT AND STUDY
Mark 4:24 And He said to them,
(A) Be careful what you are hearing. The
(B) measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the
(C) measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you–and
(D) more [besides] will be given to you who hear.
(A) And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing.
This “Be careful” is twofold. Firstly, we need to be judicious as to what we expose our minds to. Too many people rely on TV evangelists, religious DVDs, books of questionable origin and are side-tracked by their lack of discernment.
The second aspect of “Be careful” means to pay strict attention to that prompting that made the particular verse of Scripture significant. Peter made the point; he identifies the “WORD” explicitly as the source and the “CAREFUL” as the “CLOSE ATTENTION.” No just pressing on but meditating until the light shines. But not leaving it there, but “GRASPING THE APPLICATION.”
2 Peter 1:19 (A) And we have the prophetic word [made] firmer still. You will do well to PAY CLOSE ATTENTION to it as to a lamp shining in a dismal (squalid and dark) place,
(B) The measure of thought and study you give [to the truth you hear] will be ……
There can be no ambiguity in this instruction because both “thought and study” intensify our understanding according to the quality of the “study” and the duration of the “time” spent revolving around the words of Scripture. Do not be led off on tangents by men’s ideas; it must be the Word of God, for that alone is “TRUTH” that we must hear.
The more we meditate, the more we appreciate, in two ways, in GRATITUDE, and in VALUE. In natural terms, we expect any investment to “APPRECIATE” in value, and this applies to the investment in MEDITATION.” David found this out and gives us two valuable principles. Firstly, that warm glow we experience when we read the verse becomes a conflagration as we meditate, becoming compelling and exciting. (See Psalm 39:3)
(C) “the measure [of virtue and knowledge]”
The degree of “virtue and knowledge” we accumulate depends on how much we apply ourselves to study and can be an incriminating measurement. It does not require that we be intellectually gifted, but we do have to be efficiently engaged. It requires my evaluation of how “CAREFUL” I have been in exercising my mind to apprehend and comprehend and to “THINK OVER THESE THINGS,” not GLOSS OVER!
Virtue and knowledge, like gold, have intrinsic value; but if they are not consistently polished, they certainly lose a great deal of their lustre;
“VIRTUE” is conformity to a standard of right (Merriam Webster), and our pursuit of “CONFORMITY” is simply that, to uphold the “STANDARD” the Word requires
But whose measurement do we use, if it is mine, then I may be inclined to settle for less, OR I can assiduously set aside not just a time slot, but a disciplined and organised regimen where I have “collected my thoughts” (Zephaniah 2:1) started my research, not just reading a commentary but “Carefully analysing and accurately dividing” (2 Timothy 2:15) that Scripture I first saw as “interesting.”
If I am not any wiser at the conclusion of this “thought and study” period, then I must be doing something wrong. So, I review my “thought and study” procedure to see where I need to make adjustments, for “virtue and knowledge” is an improvement, a better grasp, some added insight and explanation, and at least equivalent to the effort I have expended.
Time spent in study and contemplation is designed by our Father to be an exciting experience, like locating a treasure after much research and deep digging, enriching and enhancing. It was promised to Cyrus in Old Testament times, and Mark 4:24 is the New Testament equivalent of Isaiah.
Isaiah 45:3 (ERV) I will give you the wealth that is stored in secret places. I will give you those hidden treasures. Then you will know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.
“Secret places” are those times of dedicated “thought and study,” not just the one, but both must go and grow together. They are found in the quietness of communion with the Holy Spirit,
A SECRET PLACE
(D) “More [Besides] will be given to you who hear.“
In my youth, I was often advised, “what you put in is what you get out,” an incitement to be wholehearted in everything I did. I didn’t realise at that point in time that it was a simplification of Mark 4:24
So, we return to the original premise of Mark 4:24, “Be careful what you are hearing,” for if we “HEAR,” then the “measure” gets upgraded to “MORE BESIDES.” This is the abundance that enables us to minister to the masses, not just in preaching, but in EXAMPLE, like the examples of Jesus feeding the multitude, just a minimal amount of food multiplied to confirm His “Virtue and Knowledge,” His “power, wisdom and goodness.”
Paul has addressed the Corinthians, spelling out the “return on investment” by those who are faithfully engaged in the privileged responsibility, both to sow and to water.
1 Corinthians 3:8 He who plants and he who waters are equal (one in aim, of the same importance and esteem), yet each shall receive his own REWARD (wages), according to his own labor.
The “PLANTING and WATERING” are synonyms for the WORD, the seed of the Word, and the Water of the Word. But the “reward” is “grasping the application” is the same as “according to his labour.”
Peter encourages us to develop our virtue by being diligent in our commitment to “thought and study” as a codicil to “the divine promises,” and describes ‘VIRTUE” as “excellence, resolution, Christian energy,” which when exercised joins with Mark in developing “KNOWLEDGE” coupled with “VIRTUE.”
2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, adding your diligence (That’s is, the “measure of thought and study .. comments mine) [to the divine promises], employ every effort (A repeat of “diligence” .. comments mine) in exercising your faith to DEVELOP VIRTUE (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [EXERCISING] VIRTUE [develop] knowledge (intelligence),
The “THIS VERY REASON” is the gifting and ability and calling Father has afforded us, providing a solid and secure foundation on which we then construct our character by “grasping the application.”
Far too often, speakers’ tender material that has not undergone the fire of meditation either taking the message from a book or worse, plagiarising, or presenting material that has not undergone Holy Spirit guided examination, having applied minimal time and research so that the richness of the Word remains hidden behind the ignorance of assumption, unable to clarify or explain.
However, it was not until the Psalmist had stoked the fire of meditation with the fuel of God’s Word that he “THEN SPOKE.”
Psalm 39:3 My heart was hot within me. While I was musing, the fire burned; THEN I spoke with my tongue:
This should be our experience, firstly the “MUSINGS” then the “MOUTHING.”
Psalm 119:97 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
Psalm 1:2 But his delight and desire (This is the excitement that attends fruitful study .. comments mine) are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) HE HABITUALLY MEDITATES (PONDERS AND STUDIES) BY DAY AND BY NIGHT.
The Psalmist has nominated the “MEASURE” required, that measure that will be multiplied to us as we follow the principles of “MEDITATION.”
SELAH
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Ross Smith 