One of my grandchildren told me this joke: “Knock, knock” he said. “Who’s there?” I dutifully responded. With a big grin on his face, he said: “Cows-go.” Without thinking I gave the appropriate response. “Cows go who?” I asked. Giggling he corrected me. “No, silly Grandpa. Cows go ‘Moo’!”
Welcome to the Point of Purity Podcast! I’m your host Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #178. This week’s Episode about eating your vegetables and learning how to “Say Moo!”
In last week’s episode we talked about how to become prosperous and successful. We looked at Joshua 1:8 where God instructed Joshua to “not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” God was giving to Joshua (and us) three things we must do in order to experience genuine prosperity and success.
First, eat your vegetables. No, I’m not referring to carrots, corn, beets, and green beans. Although – let me be quick to add – it’s a good thing to eat your vegies. But there is an analogy I would like to draw from this. Let me start with a couple of questions for you to consider. Do you eat? Of course you do. But why do you eat? I’m sure you can come up with a number of different reasons, but the bottom line is that as we eat, the nutrients from the food we consume and digest help us grow and gain weight.
OK. I have a simple but important task for you here. Bend your left arm up at the elbow. While in that position, tighten your fist, tense up your arm and feel your bicep. Now lower your arm and feel the bones in your wrists. The nutrients that come from the food we eat help our bones and muscles grow and stay strong. Now, stand up. Seriously, unless you’re driving, take a moment and stand up. OK. Do a couple of jumping jacks. I’ll wait ... . Those same nutrients give us the energy we need (called carbohydrates) to function throughout the day. They also help us stay well and get well quickly when we are sick. The fiber in our food helps us digest the food and helps keep our teeth and gums healthy. It is also equally true that if all we eat is “junk food” our bodies will suffer the consequences from such a diet.
Ok, here’s why the health-break. Paul told Timothy that “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8) As important as it is for our physical well-being to not only eat but eat right, it is even more important for our spiritual well-being that we not only “eat,” but eat properly. God instructs Joshua (and us) to keep His Word on our lips. In other words, we need to daily feed on Scripture. We need a daily diet of God’s Word. We need to open our Bible daily and devour the words of our Creator and Heavenly Father. There is no way around it.
“When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, or LORD God of Heaven’s Armies.” (Jeremiah 15:16)
Second, you must be meditating on God’s Word day and night. It is not enough to simply have a quick devotional at the breakfast table or just before going to bed. It definitely is not enough to just listen to the preacher on Sunday morning. You need to be daily reading and studying God’s Word, and then throughout the day focus your thoughts on what you have read. Let me ask you this: Did you read your Bible today? Do you remember what you read? Have you been thinking about how it applies to you throughout the day? Have you been asking God to show you how to live it out?
We are to choose daily to meditate upon God’s Word. This is what it means to meditate.
The meditation God says we are to do is not some mystical, Eastern religion-based event involving sitting cross-legged on the floor with eyes closed, tips of your fingers barely touching, and chanting to yourself in a low hum. The verb “to mediated” in Joshua 1:8 refers to breaking something down into small chewable pieces. This, in turn, makes it easier to digest and get into your system so that you can draw strength and nourishment from it – similar to a cow chewing her cut.
Consider this: a cow cannot chew her cud until she has first eaten some grass. Makes sense - right? If there is no grass in her stomach, there will be no cud to chew. In the same way, it is impossible for you and I to truly meditate on God’s Word if we are not first reading and studying it. You must first feed upon Scripture before you can meditate upon it.
So, let’s focus our attention for a moment on what happens when a cow is feeding. After sufficiently chewing the grass, the cow swallows it, sending it into the first of four chambers in her stomach. Similarly, when you have your devotional time, or sit in church and follow along in your Bible as it is being taught, or whenever you are reading the Scriptures, you are “feeding” upon the Word of God. You are chewing on it and then swallowing it, taking it in storage for later use.
I’ve been told that up to 70% of cows chew their cud when they are resting. They are bringing up that grass they ate earlier in the day (regurgitating it) and chewing on it again. As the cow chews, she is breaking the grass down even further, swallowing it, sending it into the second chamber of her stomach. A little while later she will bring it up again and chew on it some more. Each time breaking it down further to enable proper digestion.
How does this apply to you and me? Say you’ve read some truth in Scripture during breakfast. You have fed upon God’s Word. As you progress through the morning you begin to think about what you read. You’re bringing it back to mind so you can “chew” on it. You think about what it means, about how it applies to your life, about how you should adjust your choices, your attitude, your actions. The Holy Spirit begins to help you understand some basic concepts and principles from God’s Word.
During your lunch break, you sit there eating your leftover ham between two dry slices of bread while thinking more about that text from the Bible. You’re bringing it up again so you can “chew” on it some more. You are seeing that God is showing you an area of your life that needs attention. You utter a prayer asking God to reveal to you what He wants and to give you the strength and wisdom to apply it to your life. That evening someone makes a comment that upsets you and immediately that verse or passage you’ve been meditating on throughout the day pops into your mind. Smiling, you respond to the situation in a Biblical, loving way instead of the nasty retort you would have given yesterday.
That was a much-simplified example of the process of meditation, but the bottom line is that it starts by reading the Word – feeding upon it. Then periodically throughout the day, you bring it back to mind and think about it, evaluating, scrutinizing, comparing with other Scripture verses, seeking to know and understand how it applies to you. You keep your heart open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, asking Him to guide you into God’s truth so you may better understand God’s will. As you chew on (meditate upon) the Scripture, you begin to understand the principles God is teaching you and you see how you can, and should, apply it to your life. Then God gives you practical opportunities to live out what you have learned. This is the process of meditation.
Let’s go back to the illustration of a cow chewing her cud. I’ve been told that dairy cows spend almost eight hours a day chewing their cud for a total of almost 30,000 chews daily. That is a lot of chewing! How much do you meditate on God’s Word? How many “chews” a day do you typically have?
It’s been said that a contented cow is one who is seen chewing her cud. I believe it would be safe to say that a contented Christian is one who is meditating faithfully upon God’s Word. “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8) I’d say God is describing a contented Christian, wouldn’t you?
Allow me to remind you that what you choose to meditate upon is crucial.
· You are to meditate upon the Word of God which is flawless (Proverbs 30:5), living and enduring (1 Peter 1:23), as well as active and powerful (Hebrews 4:12).
· As a result, it is always working in the life of the Christian (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
· It continues to spread and flourish even today (Acts 6:7; 12:24).
· It helps us stay pure (Psalm 119:9) and keeps us from sin (Psalm 119:11).
· It provides us with a spiritual compass (Psalm 119:105).
· God uses it for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in how to live a righteous life, as well as equipping us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
God’s Word is what you are to meditate upon, hiding it in your heart and thinking deeply about it throughout the day. You must choose daily to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth (John 16:13) and give you wisdom and strength as you purpose to live it out each day. As you do, you are actively seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.
The third requirement that must be met for true prosperity and success in the Christian life, according to Joshua 1:8, is daily choosing to consistently walk in obedience to what God’s Word says. Notice that God instructs Joshua to “be careful to do everything written” in His Word.
Think about that little word “do.” What does it mean to “do” something? It may seem like a silly question, yet we know that every word of God is inspired and thus important (2 Timothy 3:16). The verb “do” in this verse is written in the imperfect tense. In other words, this is an action that is forever incomplete. It is not finished. It must therefore continue on into the future. Obedience to God’s Word is an ongoing action. You are never done with doing what God says you should do.
You see, as you read Scripture and meditate on God’s truth, the Holy Spirit will reveal to you how you are to live in pursuit of God’s kingdom and righteousness. He will show you how to build your godly life upon a solid foundation. It is not enough to just read your Bible; you must then do what God says (James 1:22). If you just read the Word but do nothing about it, you’re like that foolish man who tried to build his house on beachfront property without building it upon a rock-solid foundation (see Matthew 7:26-27).
What I am sharing with you throughout this podcast is not some magic pill which promises that you will no longer have problems or trials or painful times in your life if you swallow it. This isn’t a special formula that offers you a happy marriage, wonderful children, a ton of money in the bank, great health, and never having to experience serious temptation if you follow it. Remember, that kind of result is how the world defines prosperity and success.
Instead, what we are exploring and pursuing is how to live a life that gives all the glory to God. We are discovering from God’s own words how to please and honor Him. He promises that as you learn to focus on His Word and obey Him, you will know true prosperity and success the way He defines it.
“Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well.” (Jeremiah 7:23 NLT)
OK. Let’s hit the pause button until next week’s episode as we continue our miniseries on How to Glorify God. In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about today’s study, or if you’re interested in learning more about The Pure Man Ministry (what we do to help men across the globe find freedom and victory over sexual sin), be sure to visit our website to see the multitude of resources we’ve made available to you – you can find our website at ThePurityCoach.com.
One of those resources I would like to highlight for you here is my book entitled “Extreme Mind Makeover: How to transform sinful thoughts and habits into patterns of life pleasing to God.” This book takes you on a journey through the Bible to examine what God has to say about how your thoughts, words, and actions influence and impact your heart.
If you’ve followed this Point of Purity Podcast for any length of time, then you’ve heard me emphasize the fact that what you think becomes what you do. When you train your mind to think godly thoughts, the things you say and do day in and day out will be godly. On the flip side, when you allow your mind to think sinful, fleshly, ungodly, King Me centered thoughts, the result (your daily attitudes and actions) will be ungodly. So, how do I change the way I think? How do I change the things I do? How do I successfully and effectively guard my heart? This book, “Extreme Mind Makeover” takes you into God’s Word to help you answer those questions.
So go to our website, ThePurityCoach.com, and check out our resources page, or go directly to Amazon.com and purchase your copy of “Extreme Mind Makeover” today.
And if you haven’t subscribed to this podcast yet, let me encourage you to do so today so you won’t miss any of our upcoming episodes!
So, until next time this is Author, Speaker, Certified Professional MentorTM and Purity Coach Steve Etner reminding you that if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living, He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking.
