This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success.

Joshua 1:8

Meditation is a vital part of Christian life because it connects what we think with what we feel, which in turn changes what we do.

From the earliest days of human relationships with God, a key aspect has been building a meaningful relationship with God as a person. Being unable to walk in the garden as Adam did or speak to him in person as Abram did, we instead learn about God through his divinely inspired scripture. Simply reading the words is not enough, however. James 1 talks about meditation on the word as reflecting on Scripture so that we can put it into practice.

The word of the Lord ought to be so on our minds that it is what tumbles out of our mouths. It ought to be so present in our thoughts that our hands work to do it. Meditation facilitates this.

You probably already meditate in a sense, whether you realize it or not. Quiet moments of reflection during a walk or after reading the Bible or maybe even just sitting alone in silence. The difference between meditation and incidental quiet is intent.

Make time, purposeful, specific, set apart time, to spend thinking about your relationship to God every day. That’s all it takes!

Ethan Kirl

Originally Published June 11, 2020