meditation

Ps. 119:97 "O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day." Sept. 26, 2007
I was recently sitting in on a bible college class, in which the professor stated that the two most neglected duties in a Christian's life were probably prayer and bible study. If you think about it, the three most important things for a christian are probably prayer, (our communication to God) bible study, (God's communication to us) and fellowshipping with like minded believers, (our communication to each other). To think that we fall short of the mark on two out of three areas, is a pretty disappointing statistic. Yet I'm afraid it's true. As I examined my own life, I realized that I do fall short of the mark in my bible studies. David said that he loved God's word to such an extant it was his meditation all the day. What do we meditate on all day? Our job? The errands we still have to run? What time we have to pick the kids up from school? The cares of this world end up choking out any thoughts we had on God's word. Now don't get me wrong, I want you to be focusing on what you're doing when you are operating a piece of heavy machinery, and I want you to be focused on the road as you're driving, but so often we have a million things running through the back of our minds, and rarely is it God's word.
I would hope that you set some time apart in the morning to read the scriptures, and whether you read a few verses or a few chapters, whether you are in Numbers or Romans, I would encourage you to pick out a verse or set of verses that you can apply to your life. Then throughout the day, mull over that portion of scripture, think about what you need to do to make your life form around it, consider what importance it has in your walk with Christ, decide how it can help you live better with your fellow man, connect it with other portions of scripture you know. Let your mind meditate on the law of God, not a meditation that clears the mind, or focuses on some singular abstract, but the type of meditation that brings your focus back time and time again to the word of God.
The first part of this verse is critical in bringing the second about. Can't you hear the desire and passion in David's voice as he exclaims "O how I love thy law". It is a declaration of longing for the things of God, a true earnestness about finding out what it is that pleases God. If you read the scriptures because you want to be able to say you did if someone asks, or because you think it is a religious duty you must do to stay in God's good favor, you will never truly meditate on it the way David did. A true love for God and his word must precede meditation. If you've ever been separated from a loved one, you know you read every letter you get from them, not out of fear they'll ask if you did, but because you honestly want to know what they're thinking about and what you can do to help them. So it is with the bible, we must approach it with an honest love for the author, we must read it looking for his will for our lives. Then when we think about the bible verse we read, we won't be doing it out of obligation, instead it will simply be a natural occurrence, something we do because we want to, not something we do because we have to.
As read your bible tomorrow morning, think about the fact that God has preserved this word for thousands of years, because he wants you to know of his love for you. Think about the fact that this book is written by someone who gave his only begotten son to die for you, though you had done nothing to deserve it. Perhaps it will give you a greater appreciation for the bible, and just maybe that portion of scripture you picked out, will come back to your mind throughout the day.