Of all the Christian disciplines, it is my guess that meditation may be the least practiced—though I suppose fasting might have something to say about that. Most people diligently make time to read the Bible and pray. And yet, while most people have good intentions when it comes to meditation, it so often seems to get displaced. After all, life is busy, the world is noisy, and meditation is a challenge.
But I wonder if part of the problem is that we have made meditation too difficult. I wonder if we’ve made it a little too abstract, a little too inactive, and perhaps a little too solitary.
What is meditation? Meditation is pondering the words of the Bible with the goal of better understanding and sharper application. Ideally, meditation leads us to understand the words we have read and to know how God may call us to work them out in our lives. It is one of the ways that we output wisdom after inputting knowledge.
Most often we associate meditation with solitude and silence—sitting quietly and alone with an open Bible as we prayerfully ponder the words we are reading. This is not the mantra-repeating or mind-emptying meditation of Eastern religions, but the Scripture-pondering and mind-filling meditation of King David who wrote, “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word” (Psalm 119:15-16).
The goal is wisdom—wisdom that works itself out in the life of the Christian. Hence, we ponder biblical information—words, verses, chapters—and seek to gain wisdom—understanding, character, action. Meditation is a crucial bridge that spans the Word on the page and the Word written on the heart and acted out through the hands, feet, and lips.
Meditation is a crucial bridge that spans the Word on the page and the Word written on the heart and acted out through the hands, feet, and lips.
That is a wonderful and necessary goal, but it is not a goal that can be achieved solely through silent solitude. Many have found that they meditate best when they have a pen in their hand and are writing in a journal—a journal that records their thoughts as they go from meandering to precise, from broad information to specific knowledge. Many have found they meditate best when they sit with friends or a spouse and talk over what they have been reading together or perhaps discuss questions that were provided alongside a sermon. Many have found their minds focus best when their fingers sit upon a keyboard and they can see the progress of their minds and hearts on the screen.
In every case, the goal is the same and it’s merely the means that is different. In other words, there is a variety of ways to usher the Bible’s truths deeper into the human heart and different ways to spur people on to love and good deeds. And I would suggest that more important than how it is done is the fact that it is done at all. We are different people with different personalities and different strengths and weaknesses. We come from different backgrounds and live in different circumstances. We have different abilities and different amounts of Christian experience. Yet we have the same goal, which is to understand and apply—to read what the Bible says, to know what it means, and to live it out.
Now, I’ll agree it is probably best if there is some element of silence and solitude in every Christian’s life—some element of being still before the Lord outside the busyness and buzz of daily life. But I also want to affirm that this is not the only means through which we can meditate on his Word and see growth in wisdom and obedience. Whether through writing in a journal or tapping out a devotional, whether talking deliberately with friends or sitting quietly before the Lord, the goal is the same, and surely God is pleased to bless it.
