Theme of the Week: Reset Boundaries (Recharge)
Bible Verse: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3, ESV
Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 4:1-10
Hiding God’s Word in our hearts is another way of thinking about meditating on Scripture.
This means opening ourselves up to the truth of the Word, as though it were a personal word from God to us, and allowing it to become part of us. Our time in the Scriptures can be an immersive experience, where the Word softens our rough edges while also nourishing and growing us.
The Word can weave itself into the fabric of who we are as we focus on a passage from the Psalms, the Gospels, or another part of Scripture, and prayerfully ponder it over the course of a day, a week, or even longer.
As the Word is stored in our hearts through this repetitive, meditative process and becomes one with us, it will bear fruit not just for the present moment but for the future as well. How is this kind of fruitfulness possible? One of the ways we foster such transformation is by speaking the text.
We often refer to this as learning “by heart,” but it is more aptly described by the ancients as learning “by mouth.” Reading aloud, repeating the words, engages more of our senses and deeply imprints the text upon our minds.
In Benedict’s sixth-century world, monks did not principally read with their eyes but with their lips, pronouncing what they saw and using their ears to listen to the words they uttered. This form of meditation is also a rich part of Jesus’ Jewish heritage. In addition to adding sound to sight, verbalizing what we read slows down our reading process so we can savor the words like we would if we were reading a poem. This unhurried, leisurely walk through the Word allows the text to trigger associations from other passages, past memories, and connections to our family or work life; stir hope for the future; and make the story of Scripture our story too.
Taken from God In My Everything by Ken Shigematsu. Copyright ©2013 by Ken Shigematsu. Used by permission of Zondervan.
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