Dear Church,

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).

What does “meditate on it day and night” mean?  When we first hear this word, we think of some new age practice of people folding their bodies into a pretzel shape and sitting under a tree. No, for a Christian meditation is part of our life, it is the method where we channel the life of Christ into our daily living.  If you look into the synonym for “meditation”, you will probably find the word “rumination”, and this is what a cow does when she chews the cud.  She chews her digested food again and again. It sounds pretty gross, but a cow eats grass pretty quickly and when it lies down the food in its belly soaks all the acids and chemicals and after a while the cow brings it right back up into its mouth and chews it again with renewed flavor. Most of the nutrients for the cow is received this way.  

Meditating on the word of God is somewhat similar. You read a passage, you digest the thoughts again and again. God wants us to draw every bit of spiritual nourishments from his word. It’s not always about reading large portions of the scripture but small portions and thinking about it all day long.  Every time you do this, the Holy Spirit brings new thoughts that will renew, heal, empower, and sanctify a believer.  Don’t Just read the Bible but take time to chew on it day and night. There is tremendous spiritual blessing in this.

Be Encouraged,

Mathews