My favorite view of meditation comes from a book by Jim Berg, Changed Into His Image. He says that anyone who knows how to worry knows how to meditate. The process is the same; it’s the thoughts that are different. Instead of allowing my mind to be filled with concerns about an event or a “what if’,” I fill my mind with God’s word. When we worry, we find ourselves thinking about all the possible outcomes, the way other events might affect what we are worrying about, or how we should respond to the different scenarios we imagine. Meditation is the process of looking at scripture with the same focus.
I’d like to share about my meditating on Proverbs 4:23. I think this verse speaks to a key reason why scripture meditation is so important. It says, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (English Standard Version). I found these definitions of key Hebrew words:
- Keep: guard (in a good sense: to protect or to maintain; in a bad sense: to conceal)
- Vigilance: a guard—the man or the place (i.e. prison)
- Flow: exit, boundary, border, source
- Life: fresh, life, living thing
Looking at those definitions, I came up with this paraphrase: Guard your heart with your whole being. Be the guard. Your life flows from it. [Note: a paraphrase is not meant to be a literal translation—it’s what the passages says to me.]
As I spent time thinking about this verse, using both my paraphrase and the regular translation, I found that my focus would sometimes be on a particular word or phrase and sometimes on another. I asked myself questions, such as, “How can I guard my heart?” “Why is it important to do it with all vigilance?” “In what way is my heart a source of life?” My pondering on this verse led me to these thoughts:
- Who I am and how I respond to God, to others, or to life in general is rooted in what my heart believes to be true.
- Guarding my heart is a personal responsibility. Failure to take that responsibility allows the source of my life to become polluted, and what flows from it will not be godly.
It also led me to thinking about other scriptures that were relevant:
- Romans 12: 2 says we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds
- Philippians 4:8 says to think on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, worthy of praise
- Luke 6:48 says the good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth what is good while the evil man brings forth what is evil because the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says we are to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances
So meditating on Proverbs 4:23 led to further meditation, using the four scriptures above. This, in turn, led to the following practical applications:
- God’s word is the main way I can renew my mind. Be alert to attitudes and perspectives that are not scriptural. Then look for passages that give me God’s perspective instead and meditate on them.
- Pay attention to my thought life. Is what I’m thinking really true? (Can I be sure of that?) Even if it is true, is it also honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and worthy of praise. (When the truth is ugly, I need to be looking for what God might be wanting to do in the situation.)
- Pay attention to the words that pop out of my mouth or the thoughts that pop into my head. They reveal something true about me. (I don’t have to “own” every thought, but every thought will reveal something about me—even if it just points to an area where I am vulnerable to some temptation.)
- If I find myself unable to rejoice or give thanks in a particular circumstance, I need to keep praying to see it from God’s perspective. He promises to work all things together for our good. If I can’t see any good, I have not yet seen the situation as God wants me to see it.
My key reason to meditate on scripture is because I am what my heart believes.
- I want my heart to believe what God says.
- I want a world view shaped by scripture and not human philosophies.
- I want my understanding of who God is to be shaped by his word—letting him tell me who he is instead of me telling him who he should be.
- I want to meditate on scripture so God can change me from the inside out—changing my heart to change my behavior instead of me trying really hard to do or be what I think God wants me to do or be (and usually failing).
In my next post, I’ll share some things I learned about being a shepherd that can give greater meaning to the 23rd Psalm.