Meditate on the Word

Larry is part of the GS Pastoral Support Team and attends GS South.

Psalm 1: 2,3 (NIV)
Blessed is the one…
whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

When our children were young, they would often arrive home from school ravenously hungry and rush to the fridge to find something to eat. However, if I checked their lunch boxes, the contents were only half eaten! On suggesting they might be less hungry if everything was eaten during their break, the replies were: ‘didn’t have time’, 'had to dash to football', or drama club or netball. 

I wonder if, like me, you are like my kids - in such a hurry to move on to the next thing in your day that when it comes to reading God's Word, we rush through a scripture passage. 

If you’ve seen a dog with a bone, there is no way that he will give it up until every morsel is eaten and does a little growl if anyone comes close. I think God wants us to get every last morsel out of his Word. He wants us to do some ‘dog with a bone’ type of reading of the scriptures.

We are encouraged in Psalm 1 to delight in the Law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night. We are used to taking in new information, researching and gaining knowledge, but
how often do we ruminate leisurely, use our imaginations to consider the background of the words? How often have we re-read a passage and something new jumps out which is very pertinent to our situation? There is power in the words to draw us closer to God.

As the food in our stomachs sustains our bodies, so the Word enters our souls to become love and wisdom. In the Psalm those who chew on scripture are refreshed, they show the fruit of God’s love in their lives; they don’t give up in hard times - and they live fulfilled lives. 

Prayer - Thank you Lord that there is power in your Word to change our lives. Help us to delight and meditate on it every day.