TODAY’S
WORD FOR MONDAY OCTOBER 7, 2013.
MEDITATION
DEFINITION:
Continued
or extended thought; reflection; contemplation; to think deeply; devout
religious contemplation or spiritual introspection.
SCRIPTURE:
When
He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.
Now when evening came, He was alone there. Matthew 14:23.
He
makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
Psalm 23:2.
KNOWLEDGE
AND EXPERIENCE:
Most
people in the midst of constant busyness feel that they need to escape from
where they are to a quiet place just for a few minutes. Most of us have more on
our "to do list" than we can possibly get done in a day, and it
usually is the same day after day after day. We get to the point where we say,
"I need a break." We need to take a break so we can decompress and
recoup. This is what the Psalmist is saying (above) to us. He sees the Good
Shepherd bringing him to "still waters" --- waters to rest by. It
gives us a picture of a quiet place, a retreat from the pressures of life and
where you can rest in the presence of your Good Shepherd.
Even
Jesus looked for a place (above verse from Matthew) to go and rest and pray.
All believers need to take the time each day just to rest and meditate on what
God wants to tell you.
There
are 150 Psalms of which David composed 73. All of the Psalmists were men who
loved God and loved His Word and meditated on it. The Psalmist who wrote Psalms
1:2 said that those who love God will want to meditate on it day and night. The
Psalmists reveal to us what they meditate on:
God’s unfailing love. Psalm 48:9
God’s works and mighty deeds.
Psalm 77:12
God’s precepts and God’s ways.
Psalm 119:15.
The splendor of God’s majesty.
Psalm 145:5.
The
psalmists understood the importance of meditation to their spiritual lives. It
was so important to the writer of Psalm 119:148 that he stayed awake to
meditate through the night. More importantly they loved God so much that they
had a compelling desire and hunger for God’s Word.
The
result of the meditation of the Psalmists is the outpouring of praise and
thanksgiving that they have shared with us from their hearts in the book of
Psalms.
The
apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:16 to "redeem the time." What he
is saying is that we need to use our time right and make the most of the time
we have. We need to take the time to meditate and read God's Word. We need to
take the time to pray to our heavenly Father. We need to take the time just to
rest and meditate and let God talk to us. You will find that time spent in
meditation with the Lord will bless your heart, and like the psalmists you will
want to praise God and offer your prayers of thanksgiving to Him for all He has
done for you.
As
your day winds to a close, if you have not taken time to meditate on God's Word
and allowed God to talk to you, then take time before you go to bed for quiet
reflection. In the serenity of the evening, we can enter God's presence and not
only get a more accurate perspective on life but refresh and restore our weary
souls.
When
we take time to meditate and draw near to God our minds are refreshed and our
strength is renewed.
LEARNING:
Our
memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 19:17.
One
who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his
good deed.
PRAYER:
Give
me the time each day to stop and rest and meditate on what You have to say to
me. Open my eyes to the wisdom of Your Word and make my heart receptive to Your
leading. May my family learn to rest in
You and then together may we reach out to tell the world around us the good
news of the gospel.
