“How I love Your teaching! It is my meditation all day long.” – Psalm 119:97 (HCSB)
What does it mean to meditate on God’s word? It is not simply studying a passage to know the meaning better. It is not simply memorizing a Bible verse. So what is meditation? I think a helpful illustration is to picture God’s word as food that we take into our very selves. Something incredible happens when we digest food; it very literally becomes a part of who we are. Likewise, meditating on God’s word means taking it into ourselves in such a way that it becomes a part of our daily lives. We contemplate God’s word and hold our lives up in light of its teachings. So why is meditation on God’s word so important? Because it guards against becoming the kind of person that Paul warns us about in the book of Titus; “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good” (Titus 1:16). So recall one of your favorite verses, or open up your Bible today. Don’t just read or study or memorize, but meditate on the teachings of God.
Heavenly Father, teach us to meditate on Your word; to take it into the deepest part of ourselves and allow it to shape who we are.