Crack the Shell, Chew the Kernel - Part 4
Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:2 similarly charge the Christian on the what, when, and why of meditating.
The what: meditate on God’s Word
The when: both day and night; always keep it a part of your thoughts and words.
The why: to put God’s word into practice & to be prosperous
The When
Eugene Peterson’s Message translation of Psalm 1:2 reads, “...you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night”.
Similarly, Joshua 1:8 reads, “keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.”
Emphasized, yet again, in Deuteronomy 6:6-8: “these commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
So when, Christian, are you to meditate on the Word of God? As much as you are possibly able to, every day!
The instructions for us are quite simple – keep God’s Word a part of our conversations, tasks, relationships.
But, why is it so complicated to follow through on?
Two reasons that throw our household off at times which also seem to be mainstream practices in Christian communities and in society today: busy-ness and convenience. Each has seemingly become idols in so many Christian’s personal walks with Jesus…so, therefore, have become idols in so many Christians’ households. Idols may seem a bit harsh, maybe? Crawford Loritts, Jr simplifies the notion of idolatry in his book Leadership as an Identity by claiming that “whenever you choose your way over His way, you commit idolatry because, in essence, you are saying that your wisdom is superior to God’s. You are acting as though you are God”. If we fit busy-ness and convenience within this understanding of what idolatry is, then I think we must, at the minimum, consider the idea of busy-ness and convenience being idols.
Are busy-ness and convenience undercurrents in your life that distract you and your household from drawing near to the Lord whether intentionally or unintentionally? Do either dictate the flow of your days and weeks? They sure can be for our household. From observation of others, it sure seems to be the case as well. Busy-ness. Convenience.
During my undergrad at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, there was a middle-aged man (DW) who I viewed as a mentor. DW did not have a set guide or curriculum in his discipleship of me and other college kids, and he did not try too hard or attempt to have the flashiest material or lessons. He was merely present on a regular basis…during weekly Bible study…during our campus ministry’s worship time…even inviting Jessica and me into his home for meals. DW was present. Being present made him available. Being present and available allowed him to abide in Jesus (John 15), trusting that the very Spirit of Jesus would live through him and minister to those he was with. How easily I forget how powerful the ministry of presence; how easily I neglect the ministry of the Holy Spirit living in and through the Christian!
I vividly remember DW slowly, methodically (not like the DMV employed sloth, Flash, in Zootopia) sharing one of the traps Satan sets for Christians in their walks with Jesus. Though God sees any sin as sin, I was imagining it’d be some grandiose sin that’s visible and known by all, the kind that quickly draws a repentant Christian to humility. It wasn’t that. It was a much more subtle sin. Sin that the Christian tends to not recognize as sin, the kind of sinful lifestyle that appears normalized in a manner which flows with the mainstream current. It’s not really sin is it? Well, does it distract you from keeping God central in all you do?
DW declared that the trap Satan uses for many Christians to sin against God is busy-ness. If Satan can get a Christian so busy, even busy with good work and tasks, then Satan can get a Christian distracted from worshiping and enjoying the Living God. If Satan can get a Christian to busy themselves to the point that they are lost in their work, in their families, in their friendships, in their hobbies or goals, in their busy-ness…then that will cause them to slightly and slowly and ever-so-subtly-without-even-noticing turn their attention and devotion away from God. And I’m not even considering the weakness of our own flesh that’s constantly contradicting the work of the Spirit in and through us! Kris Lungard, in his book The Enemy Within: Straight Talk about The Power and Defeat of Sin, notes that
"[the flesh's] most wretched attack is to abuse God's grace in order to make sin seem less sinful, less dangerous, less threatening…The flesh works to make you forget the design (that you are saved to be holy) and think only of the remedy (if you sin you'll be forgiven). It preaches half a gospel (a twisted gospel) to us: 'Go ahead and indulge--it's already paid for.'"
Has the trap of busy-ness become so commonplace in Christian circles and in society that the flesh makes it seem less sinful, less dangerous, less threatening…? Busy-ness is innocent and good…until it’s not.
It’s this sort of busy-ness that can cause me and my household to get distracted from our devotion to God. It’s this sort of busy-ness that causes me and my household to neglect meditating on God’s Word both day and night. It’s busy-ness that keeps us from talking about His precepts when we walk around and when we lie down. The tasks of working…of husbanding…of parenting…of eldering…of coaching…of learning…all good tasks in and of themselves…can lead to a sort of busy-ness that squeezes out me and my whole household’s chief aim in this life and the life to come: worshiping God and enjoying Him. Oh, how I need to be ever so careful to consider me and my household’s days and weeks in a manner which sets each up to meditate on God’s word both day and night!
May God’s grace increase for you in a way which causes you to order and schedule your days and weeks so that you and your household’s worship and enjoyment of God squeezes out the trap of busy-ness.
Written by Warren M. Grimm