What Does It Mean to Meditate on God?

If you are like me, when the word “meditation” crosses your path your mind goes to a picture of a person in deep concentration, seated, and with their eyes closed. Perhaps they are clothed in a way to suggest they are a monk or other holy figure. We might even see them up in the hills in a monastery or temple with a serene landscape in the background. 

These pictures evoke Eastern meditation practices that we might find as part of other faiths or of no faith at all. But when we speak of the spiritual discipline of meditation, the Bible paints a very different picture. Instead of concentrating on nothing, or trying to empty ourselves of conscious thought, the Bible speaks of focus and consideration of godly things. The mind that meditates on the Lord, from a scriptural perspective is one that is fixed, focused, and filled with the beauty, goodness, and character of God. 

In his letter to the Colossian Christians, the Apostle Paul writes in chapter 3:1-3 that we should focus on the things of heaven much more than on the things of earth. This week, we will be discussing what the practice of meditation in the life of a follower of Christ should embody and how discipline can help us to be more mindful of the rhythms of the Kingdom of God.

Grace & Peace,

Rev. Adam Thornton