Jim Wilkins
Meditation is an often abused or misused word. In the search engine BING before all the links associated with the word is this definition: “the action or practice of meditating;” then it lists synonyms: “contemplation, thought, thinking, musing, pondering” and more. I found this odd because other meditation techniques of a mystical nature instruct the meditating person to empty their minds or focus on a sound or object, try to hear your heartbeat, look for yourself within yourself. Of course if I were to try to teach someone to meditate I would use an ancient resource called the Bible. In the book of Psalms (19:14), David’s meditative prayer says, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” The Apostle Paul gives instruction on a good meditation technique in his letter to the church in Corinth. (2 Corinthians 10:5) “Taking every thought captive to obey Christ.” Last there is Psalm 119:97, “How I love Your instruction! It is my meditation all day long.”
The reality is that whatever it is you’re “focused” on, “think about” all the time, “consumes your soul,” or “fuels your fire” is your meditation. In this sense some people think about money so much (meditate on how to acquire it, how to keep it, how to make it grow into more money), that it can easily be said they meditate on it “all day long.” For others the meditative thought is power, influence, sexual gratification, solving a problem, finding a cure, and the list is endless. Rather than having the effect that Yogis teach come from meditation, this kind of obsession can often have disastrous results and destroy lives.
People are often confused when I say, “Every thought that comes across your mind must be subjected to the filter of God’s Truth, the Bible.” Reasonably speaking, some of the thoughts in the list above are simply not something God would want filling our brains and thoughts patterns.
Instead, God would have us focus on a couple of questions: (1) “Who are we?” and (2) “What are we here for?” God would want you to focus on these questions, ponder them, muse on them, then search for the answers in the guidebook of instruction to answering these questions, The Bible. It is when you discover these answers that you become truly “enlightened.” It is when you apply these answers that you become truly “alive.” It is when you trust these instructions that you become truly “wise.” When the Bible becomes your only meditative thought all day long, whatever comes your way you are ready to handle. One last instruction, from the Guidebook on Meditation (the Bible), Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.”
Jim Wilkins is the Pastor of Fellowship at the Ranch. We meet each Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. in the clubhouse.