The word meditation literally just means "to ponder or concentrate." So, Christian meditation means pondering, concentrating, and focusing our thoughts fully upon Jesus. It has nothing to do with emptying our minds–but rather with filling them with the beauty of Biblical truth.
Again and again, the written Word of God describes itself less as something to be studied objectively than as something to be experienced subjectively: tasted, savored, and absorbed into our very beings.
We see this when the prophet Ezekiel is handed a scroll and told by God to consume it (Ezekiel 3:3), and then again when the prophet Jeremiah says, ‘“When your words came, I ate them”’ (Jeremiah 15:16). Similarly, the psalmist invites Israel to "Taste and see that the LORD is good" (Psalm 34:8). And then, of course, there’s Jesus himself who quotes Moses telling Satan that ‘“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”’ (Matthew 4:4).
On another occasion, God instructed Joshua to ‘“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips, meditate on it day and night”’ (Joshua 1:8).
The Hebrew word translated "meditate" here is hagah which literally means: "to moan, ponder, or muse." There’s a sense here of "ruminating"–like a cow chewing the cud.
My sheep listen to my voice.
Psalm 143:5 NIV
5 I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.
Psalms 34:8 NIV
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Joshua 1:8 NIV
8 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.
Don’t just taste it, chew on it.
How can we activate it this week?
Chew on Psalm 143:5 throughout the week.
