A Couple things about Biblical ‘Meditation’

Hey You. It’s another week and I’ve got another word for you. Or rather, perhaps, God has a word for you. But let’s start here – How are you? How have you been? Now I know we tend to have a robotic response to that question that goes along the lines of “I’m good”, “I’m okay” or “I’m fine”, but I really want you to pause, soul search and honestly ask yourself “How am I?” Listen, even if you can’t be honest with me, you owe it to yourself to be honest with you. Think about it.

Now that you’ve hopefully answered that, I hope that today’s blog post can help shed some light on one of the reasons that you may be doing, or feeling how you are today. And more importantly, if you haven’t been in the best space mentally and emotionally, I hope the concept in today’s blog post will help improve your state of mind. It is one, of a number of things, that are often culprits for our mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical wellbeing. Matter of fact, it impacts every sphere of life. Alright, let’s dive right into the quick word for today, shall we?

Lately, and by ‘lately’, I mean over the past few months, I’ve been thinking about meditation and how we all have things we meditate on. Yes, even you. I don’t think many of us realize that. In society, or culture, meditation has been painted to be this solemn practice where you cross your legs in a quite serene space and hum away as you speak to the universe and lower case ‘g’ gods 🧘🏾‍♀️. Umm, no. It’s actually not that deep… and yet it is. What I mean by that is, the impact runs deep but it doesn’t require this elaborate ritual we tend to portray to practice. So what really is meditation?

Well, when I think of the word ‘Meditate‘, I immediately think ‘to give deep thought to‘ or ‘to ponder upon‘ as its meaning. But then again, I ain’t no dictionary(lol) so let’s consult one.

Okay, so google and more specifically, the Oxford language dictionary seem to agree with me. ( I was verifying this in real time and taking you along the journey 😉 ) Meditation is a great practice which involves carefully pondering on a thing. It requires attention and focus, and that curates a space for deeper revelation which is great! Especially as believers, we want to make room for God to peel back the layers of a Word we read but did not come into a full understanding of. You know how you’re late to get some jokes at times? Like that 3-sec delay where you go “Oh! haha!” because you just needed a bit more processing time to get it. Yeah, that a very basic example that shows the benefit of a little meditation. Now scripture is not a joke, it’s alive and well, so it may take a little longer sometimes (or a lot longer), but having that discipline allows us to engage our minds and focus in order to receive from our Spirits, into our minds, what the Holy Spirit has revealed.

The issue, however, is that many times, we give much more attention to things that add minimal value to our lives, and more specifically, our spiritual lives. I’ve had this analogy swirling in my mind since this topic was impressed on my heart about how many of us have become experts at meditating on movies. I can’t speak for you, but I grew up in a time where one of the highlights of watching your favorite tv show, the trending buzzing one that no one can get enough of, was getting to talk about it with friends. Be it at school, or at a party, at work, there was something exciting about getting to dissect every crazy little scene and how mind-blowing it was that X did what he did to Y … and you know, all the rest. Part of it, I guess, was that it made you feel “among”, but that’s a focus for another day. One of the things I really want to drill in on here is how during those conversations, we have the opportunity to catch things we may have missed. But before that, let’s talk about how the things that we meditate on influence our wellbeing… yeah, that part.

Scripture says – “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he”[Prov 23:7]. This is a verse that emphasizes the role of our thoughts on how we show up in this world. In one of my very first posts, “Nutrition Check” , I shared how the Lord had broken down to me how our mental diet should be as intentional as our physical one(if not more). In the same manner that what you consistently eat will have an effect on your physical health (and subsequently, possibly other areas of your life), what you consistently consume mentally, is bound to affect your mental health(the state of your mind).

If you spent a month gorging on burgers, fries, ice cream and candy all day, every day, you wouldn’t need to be a genius to understand why you packed on more than a couple pounds and ended up with a fupa afterwards. Yet, for some reason, we fail to assess what we take in when our mental state is on the rocks. What you consume matters, in every regard. Paralleling this with physical consumption, when a thought comes to mind, it’s like glancing at the meal you saw available on the menu. When it comes to meditation on the other hand, it’s like ordering and repeatedly eating that meal. You may not be able to control what you got wind of, but you are able to regulate how much you fixate on it. All sorts of thoughts will try to peer in, but it’s your job (and mine), to assess and grant access to those that deserve to stay.

All sorts of thoughts will try to peer in, but it’s your job (and mine), to assess and grant access to those that deserve to stay.

The question then is, what thoughts should we grant residency to in our mind. To answer that, there is one verse that immediately comes to mind to sum it up. It’s Phil 4:8. The NLT just happens to be my go-to translation, so let’s start there. It says “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” To elaborate on it a bit more, let’s check out the AMP version that usually offers more depth. (Let me just pause and say – In this moment, Imma be real with y’all, I am reminding myself to never apologize for too much scripture. We need this. Okay, let’s continue.)

It says;
“Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].”

If the thought in your mind does not pass the Phil 4:8 test, it means that it is a rebellious thought that needs to be torn down and brought into obedience to Christ according to 2 Cor 10:5-6. Allowing yourself to meditate on lies will affect your reality. Allowing yourself to meditate primarily on earthly things will cause you to neglect eternity. Your meditation will affect your direction in life … this is why scripture says to meditate on the Word of God day and night in Joshua 1:8. That same verse follows up with the result of such meditation. Other than it informing and empowering your walk in obedience (“so you will be sure to obey everything written in it“), it then says “Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” Meditation produces fruit. If you don’t like the fruit, deal with the root – your thought.

“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” [Joshua 1:8]

So, I ask you – what are you thinking about? How is it adding to you? Is it fuelling peace or anxiety? Does it ignite contentment or gratitude? Does it align with God’s Word and character ?(a.k.a Is it true? It’s time to assess and address accordingly. Choosing to intentionally meditate on the Word of God promises encouragement and hope. It offers peace, truth, clarity and comfort. It offers life and correction. It offers wisdom, direction and a Godly perspective. Our minds could use every one of those things.

Circling back to one of the first points before we wrap up, when you meditate on the Word of God, you create an environment conducive to receive revelation and deep insights from the Holy Spirit. In the same way that your meditation on movies will have you catching insinuations and elements in scenes that you may have missed earlier, meditation on truth can facilitate the peeling back of layers in the Word. Similarly, like conversing with your friends on movies exposes things you may have missed as well as offers you a new perspective, conversing on the Word of God can do the exact same thing. First conversing with the Holy Spirit, then with other men.

This went a bit longer than I thought, and there’s much more on this that I think would be helpful to know so… I’ve gone ahead and put up a podcast episode on this which runs a little deeper . Yaay🎉. It is Episode 19, and is titled “Meditations of the Heart || Think about what you’re thinking about”. I think it’ll bless you, so I encourage you to check it out on your favourite podcast platforms. All links can be found here.

Friend, life be lifing sometimes, and there are certain things that we don’t have the ability to change. Your meditation is something you can change. Change your thoughts, and change your life.

I love you. ABBA loves you more. 💕
Catch you in the next blog post!

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