Food for Thought

The Benefits of Meditating on God’s Word

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.

Joshua 1:8 (NIV)

I’m excited about today’s lesson. I love God’s Word, and what I’m about to share has helped me to get more out of the Bible than I ever imagined.

The word meditate means, “to focus one's thoughts on: reflect on or ponder over.”1 In today’s world, this word is associated with many things, and a lot of them have nothing to do with God. However, the Bible instructs us over and over to meditate on the Word.

Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV) says, Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.

What a promise! Now, we live in a fast-paced society, so meditating on the Word will need to be a conscious effort. We don't want to just hurry through a verse and rush on to the next. Meditation involves pausing to reflect on a word, a phrase, or a concept. We compare that Scripture with others that come to mind. We feel in no hurry to dash to the end of the chapter. The words are there for us to savor and enjoy.

When we meditate on Scripture, we are more concerned about quality than quantity. It is more important to get a deep understanding of one verse of Scripture than it is to read five chapters and understand nothing.

My husband Dave is great at meditating on God’s Word. I still vividly remember years ago, when God had him studying and meditating on only one chapter in the Bible—Psalm 91—for weeks at a time. Dave read it over and over. He thought about it. He studied different words that were included in the Psalm. He looked up related passages.

To this day, Dave has such a special understanding of what it means “to dwell in the shelter of the Most High” (Psalm 91:1). But he would have never received such a gift without taking the time to study and meditate on it.

When Psalm 1 instructs us to meditate on God's Word "by day and by night," it's a way of say­ing that thinking about the Word of God should be a regular part of daily activity. This will require us rejecting wrong thoughts when they come and choosing to think on things that will benefit us.

Too often people focus on their problems instead of meditating on God's promises. As they do, their problems seem to get bigger, and God's power diminishes. But when we meditate on God’s Word—when we fill our minds with what He says—we remind ourselves of just how big God is and that we have nothing to fear.

1. merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meditate

Prayer: “Father, You have told me to meditate on Your Word, and I ask You to help me do that. I want Your Word to be the focus of my life. When problems come, help me turn to Your Word immediately. When Satan attacks my mind, remind me to counterattack with Your Word. As I meditate on Your Word regularly, I believe I will see good progress in my life. I ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.”

Walk It Out: Meditating on God’s Word includes taking time to read and just ponder the Word. Today, pick one verse from the Bible on a topic of your choice. Then choose to simply meditate on what it means. Who is the verse directed at? What is the context? How does it affect you, personally?