Meditation, part 1

Only to sit and think of God,
Oh what a joy it is!
To think the thought, to breathe the Name
Earth has no higher bliss.
-Frederick W. Faber

Meditation is a lost art in the Christian life. The practice has been overtaken by Eastern religions seeking to detach themselves from present reality. Yet we have countless calls to meditate in the Bible. The Christian version of meditation is not an emptying of the mind, but it is filling the mind and heart with God's word. One of the greatest passages on mediation is found in Psalm 119 where the psalmist says he meditates “on your precepts” (Psalms 119:15, 78), “on your statutes” (Psalm 119:23; 48), “on your wondrous works” (Psalm 119:27) and this meditation is his joy. 

Meditation is a sinking into who God is and what He has done. In meditation our main goal is not to know more about God, but to let what we know penetrate the deepest source of our being and draw us into communion with and utter adoration of God. David Mathis describes the goal of meditation as making God’s words "saturate [our lives], give [us] direction, shape [our] mind, form [our] patterns, fuel [our] affections, and inspire [our] actions." Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline says that in meditation we are aiming to "think God's thoughts after Him, to delight in His presence, to desire His truth and His way."

So how do we meditate?

The primary tool of meditation is scripture. Meditating on scripture helps us internalize God's word so it is part of our very being and flows out of us whether we are conscious of it or not. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God" (Col. 3:16).

We must set aside a time for focused meditation. Meditating on the works of God is something that we should be doing 24/7, but it is also important to dedicate a time to more intentional meditation.  Set a time to directly turn your heart and mind to God and allow Him to penetrate it with His word.

Setting a place and posture is also necessary. Foster recommends finding a place you can return to with consistency. You might also choose to meditate somewhere where you can be surrounded by the magnificence of God's creation. Finding a place that stirs your awe and affections  will make your meditation that much sweeter. However, Foster reminds us that "regardless of how [meditation] is done, the aim is to center the attention of the body, the emotions, the mind, and the spirit upon 'the glory of God in the face of Christ'" (2 Cor. 4:6).

As modern Christians bombarded by desires of the flesh everywhere we go, we must not neglect the practice of pausing to let God's word inform our hearts and minds. At the core of meditation is the desire to be closer knit to God. All Christian should crave this closeness to the heart of God and seek it through meditation, for He will not hide Himself from those who  seek Him. "I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver" (Proverbs 8:17-19).

Additional Resources:
Meditating on God's Love

What Are the Disciplines?

(This will be a series from the blog I am making for my Persuasive Writing class. You can  find the weekly posts here or at that site: Disciplined for Adoration)

The purpose of this series is to explore the classical disciplines that have been practiced for centuries and uncover how we can integrate them into our modern Christian lives. The spiritual disciplines call us to move beyond the surface into the depths. The goal is not to perform a series of religious duties; it is to gain a deeper, fuller relationship with God.

Although some may argue that practicing the disciplines is an archaic habit for spiritual giants or the modern Pharisee showing off his or her spirituality, the disciplines actually force us to go beyond the outward attractiveness of our good works. The focus of the disciplines is heart change. For example, the goal of the discipline of worship is not merely to sing more songs, but to have a heart of worship and adoration that matches our outward action.

This focus on the inner heart also helps us turn to God in our heart change. True inner transformation only comes when we submit ourselves to God– a humble cry of longing that the disciplines encourage. The primary requirement to practice these disciplines is a longing after God. To know who He is and how He works.

We need this in the modern Church to become people who engage the culture and challenge it with God’s truth. Practicing the disciplines gives us the courage to declare that there is more than the physical world. However, our deepening of the inner world through the disciplines is not to be compared with the similar post-modern types of meditation or Buddhist customs. When we practice the disciplines we get more than a deep self-understanding or a release from our present reality. On the contrary, we are able to connect with God at the core of our image-bearing being and come in line with the reality He has created.

The disciplines I will look into on this journey will be the twelve recognized by Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline: meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. I will look at one discipline every two weeks studying how the discipline has been used over the centuries and how it works to bring the believer closer to God.

into the unknown

 Everyone comes into college with a plan. The first week I was here I got asked the same questions over and over again: "What is your major? What would you like to do with that?" For me, the answers to these two questions always seemed to have a disconnect. My major is Professional Writing (think journalism, business writing, technical writing), but my passion is to write devotionals, books, and articles for young women about how God's grace embraces their lives and what that looks like everyday as we work in every pursuit.

This disconnect combined with my utter love for my Bible class and boredom in my professional writing classes has caused me to seriously consider switching my major to something more suited to my hopes for future vocation.

But what about my terrible blogging record these past few months? If this is really my "passion" shouldn't I be producing a lot more of that kind of writing?

There is a lot of doubt concerning my future in more areas than one. All my plans have been confused and I am discovering passions I hadn't paid attention to before.

It is a weird feeling for a planner to not be able to set up five year goals or even a goal for the end of the week. Yet through my lack of organization, God has taught me the sweetest lesson about trusting Him for each day.

 I don't know what I want to do with my major anymore, I don't even know what my major will be next semester, but I know today my job is to love and minister to everyone I interact with. I am learning to die to myself and trust God. I don't want to leave a legacy, I want Jesus to be magnified so no one else is visible, just Him and His grace.