This is Part 4 of a 10-part series, How to Renew Your Mind: Word of God.
Hearing gets the Word in. Meditation keeps it there and lets it work. Most of us read a verse and move on within seconds. God invites us to stay with it until it changes how we think.
What God Told Joshua
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success (Joshua 1:8).
The word meditate there carries the idea of murmuring or muttering. Picture someone quietly saying a thing over and over. Biblical meditation isn’t emptying your mind. It’s filling it with one true thing and turning it over until it sinks in. Notice the order too. Meditate first, then do, then prosper.
The Tree by the River
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season (Psalm 1:2-3). A tree doesn’t strain to produce fruit. It stays planted and keeps drawing from the water. Fruit follows roots.
Meditation Hides the Word in Your Heart
David knew the secret. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Psalm 119:11). He also said, O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day (Psalm 119:97). And he prayed, Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14).
A verse you’ve only read can be forgotten by lunchtime. A verse you’ve meditated on shows up when you need it, in the traffic, in the argument, in the hospital waiting room.
How to Meditate on a Verse
- Choose one short verse and write it out by hand.
- Read it slowly three times, stressing a different word each time.
- Ask three questions: what does it say about God, what does it say about me, and what does it ask me to do?
- Say it aloud, putting your own name or “I” where it fits.
- Carry it through the day and return to it whenever your mind is idle.
Meditation Replaces Worry
Worry is meditation on the wrong thing. It uses the same mental energy, turning a fear over and over until it grows. Scripture meditation points that same energy in the right direction. You were already meditating on something. Now you get to choose what.
Your Step Today
Take Joshua 1:8 or Psalm 1:2-3 and run it through the five steps above. Do it in the morning, and come back to it at lunch and before bed. By tomorrow, try to say it without looking.
A Prayer for Today
Lord, I choose to delight in Your Word. Plant me by the rivers of water. Let what I meditate on today become what I think, say and do tomorrow, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Part 5 comes tomorrow: Taking Every Thought Captive. Come back and keep going, and share this with someone who needs it.