Jan 29

Written by: tim
1/29/2010 4:19 PM 

Current things on my mind: personal book keeping, church budget, 2009 tax return, Has anyone come to see our house? some coherent yet random thoughts for next week's sermon, Sunday is going to be a big day, my kids are sure cute - don't tell either one that though, I'm thankful that my cold will one day leave me, I wish that day were today, I've got to paint something, Tina has been working hard these past few days, she's cute too, God has blessed me much more than I deserve, His Word is active in my life and my heart and my mind, almost time for me to leave the office - make sure everything is in order.

Chances are that if the contents of your mind were to spill out they'd be at least as long as mine or even much longer.  Life is like that!  Part of 2010 is doing as much as possible as fast as possible.  Everyone's tired of economic woes, endless political battles and personal fatigue from attempting to balance nearly impossible schedules.  Many of us are desperate to leave tough times and find better ones the sooner the better.  Folks are job hunting, spouse hunting, pleasure hunting and sometimes just plain hunting to avoid wallowing.

It is time to breathe.

Inhale ---------------- exhale.

And meditate.

A lot of the ideas behind meditation out there focus on clearing your mind.  Perhaps there is some wisdom in this but I'm not here to expound the value of meditation on its own.  What I want to point you towards is BIBLICAL MEDITATION.  Can we even say those two words in the same sentence?  Well yes, actually, we can.

Consider:

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; 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

While some forms of meditation invite you to clear your mind, Scripture invites you to fill it.  My own experience has been that my mind will often become cluttered with various lists, things, fears, concerns, pleasures and whatever else I expose it too.  God wasn't asking Joshua (or us mind you) to fill his mind with random things.  He's asking us to fill our minds with truth!  God wants us to be in balance and one of the primary ways that He can work in our lives is through His living, breathing and authoritative Word.  When we have minds that are cluttered and hearts that are weighed down we can go to the words that God has given us for the purpose of refreshment, encouragement, correction and instruction.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2Timothy 3:16

My encouragement to you and I is to meditate on God's Word, the Bible.  Many of you read it and study it but I want you to slow it down.  Set aside devoted time to focus in on a passage, delight in the truth, remove agendas, listen to God, shove out distractions and simply meditate on the grace, mercy, life and love found in Scripture.

Just Breathe!