Monday, November 8, 2010

How Do I Think??

If someone tells me to think about something, what do I do? How long can I realistically think about it before my mind wanders down some random rabbit trail? My ADD mind often has trouble focusing on one thing for a long time, unless I am in a blank room with no sounds. So, as you can imagine, it makes it hard for me to follow all of the exhortations in Scripture to "meditate" on God's word, character, law, etc.
One of the Biblical words used for meditating on Scripture actually has ties to how a cow digests its food. With multiple stomachs, a cow eats something, digests it partially, regurgitates it to a different stomach, digests it more, passes it to a different stomach, and so on...until the end product comes out. So by the time it has thoroughly processed it, it's absorbed as many nutrients as it can and broken it down as much as possible. And that is how we are supposed to read/meditate on Scripture?!
It seems to make sense, but I still have had a hard time putting practical legs to this until I heard how Martin Luther taught his barber to pray as he meditates on Scripture (I actually heard it on a podcast, and pulled over on the side of Berthoud Pass to take notes because it was so impactful!) To say this has revolutionized how I read & pray Scripture is an understatement, so here is what Luther wrote in that letter to his barber, encouraging him to ask these questions as he is reading the Bible.
1. How can this passage/concept/word lead me to adore God?
2. How can this passage/concept/word lead me to confess sin?
3. How can this passage/concept/word lead me to petition [ask] for grace?

4. How is Jesus the ultimate revelation of this attribute; solution to sin; source of grace?

May this teaching bear fruit in your heart and your life as you feast on God's word!

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers."
(Psalm 1:1-3)

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