Crack the Shell, Chew the Kernel - Part 1
“We have some idea, perhaps, what prayer is, but what is meditation? Well may we ask, for meditation is a lost art today, and Christian people suffer grievously from their ignorance of the practice” (Packer, 1973). That was over fifty years ago, well before the digital age of everyone possessing personal devices. What could be said about Christians’ practice of meditation today? Society and life now, from what I’ve been told, are much faster-paced with unlimited amounts of information and entertainment conveniently in our palms. Packer’s words seem to still ring true – meditation is a lost art today, and Christian’s lack of intimacy with Jesus is severely impacting all aspects of their lives.
But maybe it’s not necessarily that meditation is a lost art, though. Maybe, it’s that the object(s) on which we meditate is merely not the Lord Himself but is anything other than Him. Is it just that the Christian’s priorities are all out of sorts to where they are not keeping the main thing, the main thing – God, Himself? Or, is life so busy and challenging that the Christian busies themself to the point that meditation is truly a lost art, and the Christian neglects to exercise their ability to meditate, to think deeply on the main thing?
Consider the following verses from the Bible:
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night…” (Joshua 1:9a)
“Blessed is the man [whose] delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:2)
Seeing these verses, we are given what we are to meditate on which can help keep the main thing, the main thing. But, what exactly is meditation? Here’s how J.I. Packer explained what meditation is in his book Knowing God (1973):
Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God.
In your personal relationship with Jesus, how do you meditate as a means to commune with God? In what ways do you and your household meditate, together, as a means to commune with God? Christian, read and meditate on God’s Word individually; read and meditate on God’s Word, together, as a household. It is a practice in our household for which we are deeply grateful. Such a discipline is an “activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God”.
Written by Warren M. Grimm