Blog Post 5: Meditation
Hi! I’m so glad you’re here!
Right now, I am standing on a very crowded underground platform—waiting for a train. And as I and the throng of people around me jostle, shift and shuffle for breathing space, and wait impatiently, I gaze up at the Information Board. The next train it says—my train—is due in four minutes. This seems like the perfect time to meditate on a bible verse.
Your word is a lamp to my feet, And a light to my path.
Psalm 119: 105
As a Royal Mystery Searcher—keenly aware that the world you and I live in is a battleground—I am currently cultivating the habit of meditating on a bible verse everyday.
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree FIRMLY planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Psalm 1: 1 - 3
I open my satchel bag, rummage deep inside and dig out my phone. A moment later, I'm on my Bible App.
The word 'meditate' has flooded the culture. In recent years, I have heard it over and over again. On popular TV and Talk shows. In books. Even in conversations, the question "Do you meditate?" arises from time to time. Meditation in culture has become cool. Hip. Trendy. Tres chic. Something that says something about you. Something that conveys to others your great depth. Unwraps your sophistication. Unfurls your intelligence for others to admire. And reveals to them that you are a deep, philosophical and clever thinker.
The question that arises however is: Is there such a thing as meditating the right way?
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matthew 7: 13
Meditation As Defined By The World
Meditation—the world's way—is a practice that involves focusing or clearing your mind using a combination of mental and physical techniques.
Phrases such as: Empty your mind. Focus on your breath. Feel the peace of not focusing on any thought that floats into your mind—common verbiage and lingo even on our phone software and apps—are frequent meditation strategies and tools.
This type of meditation style encourages you and I to relax, reduce anxiety, stress and more. More often than not, it requires you and I to empty our minds of 'all thoughts and clutter'. And a smorgasbord of delightful benefits are promised as a reward when we do so. Better health. Enhanced clarity. Sharper acuity. Calmer nerves. Greater focus. Peace.
Meditation As Used In Scripture
However, while the word 'meditation' the world's way encourages us to empty our minds of all thoughts, 'meditation' God's way is vastly, humongously, hugely and radically different.
One could—in fact—safely say: the exact opposite of the world's way.
God charges us to meditate on His word.
God requires, in you and I, a complete renewing of our minds with His word. A filling up of our minds—never EVER an emptying of it—with His word.
O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.
Psalm 119: 97 - 99
Meditation God's way is Life Transforming
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12: 1 - 2
Meditating on a bible verse is a weapon every Royal Mystery Searcher can actively—a day at a time—develop.
It is, in fact, the regular mulling over of the Sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God—in your downtime that enables us wield it (the Sword of the Spirit) with greater and greater skill and familiarity in the unexpected battles you and I will inevitably— sometime or the other—face.
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Joshua 1: 8
Yes.
Just as I need to put on my physical clothes—I think to myself now wryly (today, after all, I am wearing a trench coat, a pair of jeans, a tee-shirt and low kitten heels)—meditating on the Sword of the Word is a key part of putting my spiritual clothes on daily.
1 minute.
The Information Board above my head informs me. And I shift to accommodate a man and a woman maneuvering a baby pram next to me.
My chosen bible verse to meditate on today is Proverbs 3: 5 - 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
And HE WILL make your paths STRAIGHT.
Your paths. And mine.
As I read the verse from my phone screen, I say it—inaudibly—in my heart. And then again, under my breath, just as the train—roaring through the tunnel—thunders into view, screeching to a jerky shuddering stop in front of me.
Till next time,
Lots of love