Chew Chew and Chew Some More - #278

Meditating on God's Word is so much more than reading a verse, checking the box, and moving on with the rest of your day. It's choosing to stay with it, to slow down, think deeply and let God's truth settle into your heart.

Transcript

Welcome … to The Point of Purity Podcast...a weekly Bible study designed to help you pursue lasting purity...spiritual integrity...and genuine freedom through Jesus Christ. I'm Steve Etner...and I'm so glad you've joined me today. 

We're continuing our study on what it really means to fear God….And today's episode has an unusual title. I've called it... "Chew... Chew... and Chew Some More." I know that probably sounds a little strange. … But by the time we're finished today   I think you'll understand exactly why.

So... if you have your Bible   go ahead and grab it.   …  And let's invest a few minutes together...discovering...what God has to teach us.

Over the past several weeks we've been slowly walking through Proverbs chapter two verses one through five. And what we've discovered is that these verses reveal six intentional choices that lead us to understanding the fear of the Lord.

Listen again to what Solomon writes.   "My son, if you receive my words   and treasure up my commandments within you.  making your ear attentive to wisdom   and inclining your heart to understanding.  Yes; if you call out for insight   and raise your voice for understanding.   if you seek it like silver...and search for it as for hidden treasure;   THEN you will understand the fear of the Lord. And find  the knowledge of God."

So far   we've already looked at three of those choices.    First; we are to “receive” God's Word.    Second;   we are to “treasure” God's Word.    Third;  we must “Listen” to God's Word. Today...we come to the fourth choice.   We must daily choose to “Meditate on God's Word.

Proverbs chapter two, verse two  tells us, that if we truly want to understand the fear of the Lord … we must choose to “incline our hearts toward what God is saying.”    Simply put, we must learn to meditate on His Word.

Now, what exactly does that mean?      When many people hear the word...meditation...their minds immediately picture   someone sitting quietly, trying to empty their mind.     But that's not biblical meditation. Biblical meditation isn't about emptying your mind.   It's about filling your mind with God's truth.

Meditating on God's Word is so much more than reading a verse, checking the box, and moving on with the rest of your day.    It's choosing to stay with it.    To slow down.   To think deeply.   To let God's truth settle into your heart.     It's coming back to the same verse again...and again.    Asking questions like: "What is God saying to me?"   "What does this teach me about Him?"    "How should this change the way I think? ... the way I respond? ... the way I live?"     Instead of rushing past God's truth, you give it time to do its work.    And that's where real transformation begins.

One of the things I love about biblical meditation is that it isn't complicated. You don't need a seminary degree.   You don't need special training.   You don't even need hours of uninterrupted time.    What you do need, is a willing heart, and a mind that refuses to rush past what God has said.

Meditation is choosing to stay with the truth.    It's slowing down long enough for God's Word to move from your head to your heart.    And when that happens, something remarkable begins to take place.    God's Word doesn't simply change what you know; It begins changing what you love.    It begins shaping what you value.    It begins redirecting what you pursue.   That's where real transformation begins.

Listen to what Paul says in Philippians chapter four verse eight.     He writes: "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.    Think about things that are excellent, and worthy of praise."

I love that phrase: “Fix your thoughts.”    Paul is describing a daily choice.    You see, our minds don't naturally stay focused on Biblical truth.        If we're honest, they tend to drift.   Sometimes, toward worry.    Sometimes, toward fear.    Sometimes, toward temptation; discouragement; toward ourselves.

Paul says, don't let your mind simply wander wherever it wants to go.   CHOOSE!   Choose where it rests.    Choose what influences it.    And choose what you dwell on.

And here's something we all need to remember:   Your thoughts are never neutral.   They're always being influenced.    They're always being formed by something.    So, if you aren't intentionally filling your mind with God's truth from God’s word; something else will gladly step in and do the shaping.    It could be Your circumstances; Your emotions; The culture around you; The voices you listen to; Even your own fears.    Something is always discipling your mind.     The question is: what is it?

Daily choosing to meditate on Scripture is taking ownership of your thought life.    It's choosing to let God's truth be the loudest voice you hear every day.    It's deciding that His perspective matters more than your feelings, your fears, or the opinions of everyone around you.

Notice the kind of things Paul tells us to think about.    Whatever is true, honorable, Right, Pure, Lovely, Admirable, Excellent, and Worthy of praise.     Those aren't just positive thoughts; they're reflections of God's character.    So when you meditate on God's Word, you're doing far more than studying a passage.   You're allowing God to reshape the way you think.    You're learning to see life through His eyes.

And over time, something beautiful happens:    Your internal dialogue begins to change.     Instead of assuming the worst, you begin expecting God's faithfulness.     Instead of reacting out of fear, you begin responding with truth.    Instead of letting your emotions take control, you begin letting God's promises lead the way.    You don't change because you're trying harder; You change, because God's Word is shaping the way you think.   …  That's why meditation is so powerful.     It takes Scripture from being something you simply read and turns it into something you actually live from.    Your thoughts, your words, your decisions, your reactions, even your desires all begin lining up with what God values.     Not because someone is forcing you to behave differently; but because God has begun transforming you from the inside out.  …  One of the things I appreciate most about Scripture; is that God never presents meditation as some kind of “bonus” for the “super-spiritual Christian.”    It's never an optional upgrade.     It's an invitation for every believer.  ,,,  God isn't trying to burden us with another religious activity.     In fact, Quite the opposite.     He knows that meditation on Scripture is how His Word moves from our ears, into our hearts.     From information, to transformation.   …   

Let me give you a word picture.  …  Sometimes, our Bible reading looks a little like going through a drive-through restaurant.      We pull up, Grab something quickly, then Move on to the next thing on our schedule. … Now please don't misunderstand me: Reading God's Word is vitally important.     That was Choice number one in our text of Proverbs chapter two.   …   But meditation chooses depth instead of speed.     It lingers; It chews; It savors; It refuses to rush away from truth.     And that's really where the title of this week’s episode comes from.    “CHEW!   CHEW!  And Chew some more!!”       Like a cow chewing its cud, coming back again and again to the same nourishment:   God calls us to keep returning to the nourishment of His Word throughout the day.  …  

Over time, Scripture stops being just words on a page.    It begins shaping the way you see life.      You begin noticing what really matters; and what doesn't.      Things that once seemed perfectly acceptable, don't feel quite so harmless anymore.      Not because someone handed you a list of rules, but because God's truth has begun changing your perspective.       You begin seeing through a different lens.    Instead of looking at life through your circumstances, you begin looking at life through God's promises.      Instead of letting your emotions define reality, you allow God's truth to define reality.      

That's one of the beautiful results of meditation.   It recalibrates your thinking.     If our minds aren't being calibrated by God's truth, they slowly drift.    Before long, wrong thinking starts feeling perfectly normal.     That's why God keeps calling us back to His Word.    Not because His truth changes;  But because we do.    …   One of the beautiful things about meditating on God's Word is that it becomes one of God's greatest tools for protecting us from sin.      Now think about that for just a moment.   …  Sin almost never shows up all at once.     It rarely announces itself.      It doesn't usually kick the front door down.  Most of the time, it slips in quietly; almost unnoticed.   One small compromise. One little justification. One wrong thought that we briefly entertain instead of immediately rejecting.     And before long, our hearts have drifted much farther than we ever imagined.       

I've learned that most sinful choices don't begin with our behavior; They begin with our thinking.  …  Somewhere along the way, we stop thinking the way God thinks; and we begin listening to another voice.      Maybe it's fear. Maybe it's pride. Maybe it's loneliness, or anger. Maybe it's our own desires.  Whatever the voice, once it becomes louder than God's voice, we're already moving in the wrong direction.  …  That's why meditation isn't optional; It's protective.       It's one of God's ways of keeping our hearts anchored to truth.      When God's Word is living inside you; when it's something you've been thinking about all day long, it becomes a guardrail for your soul.     It gently reminds you, "This isn't who you are."      "This isn't what God says."      "This isn't the path  that leads to life."    …    

And then, God gives Joshua one of the clearest pictures of this in all of Scripture.     Listen to Joshua chapter one, verse eight.  …  "Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night; so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. ONLY THEN will you prosper and succeed in all you do."      I love that phrase, “day and night.”      God isn't telling Joshua to spend twenty-four hours a day reading Scripture.      He's painting a picture of a heart that keeps returning to God's truth again and again.     

God's word is no longer confined to fifteen quiet minutes before breakfast.   Now it's traveling with you. While you're driving; While you're working, While you're making decisions; While you're talking with your spouse and While you're raising your children.     His truth keeps coming back into your mind.  And every time it does, it steadies you just a little more.        

Imagine dropping a tea bag into a cup of hot water.    You don't have to force the water to change.     You simply leave the tea bag there.   Little by little the water begins taking on the flavor, the color, and the aroma of what it's been soaking in.       That's EXACTLY what meditation does.  The longer your mind and heart soaks in God's Word; the more your life begins reflecting His character.   You don't become more like Christ because you grit your teeth and try harder.       You become more like Christ because you've invested time soaking in His truth.     

And eventually, something remarkable happens.    You begin developing what I like to call a spiritual reflex.     A situation arises; and before fear has a chance to take over, Scripture comes to mind.       Temptation appears; and God's truth speaks first.      Someone wounds you, and instead of immediately reacting, you remember what God says about forgiveness.       A difficult decision lands in your lap, and instead of relying only on your own understanding, your mind naturally begins searching for God's wisdom.  Why?   Because you've been chewing on His Word throughout the day – every day.      

That is exactly what God was preparing Joshua for.   Joshua was about to lead an entire nation into the Promised Land.      There would be pressure.  There would be uncertainty.  There would be battles.  There would be moments when everything inside him wanted to panic.        So God didn't tell him,    "Joshua, believe in yourself."    He didn't say, "trust your instincts."     No!!    God said, "Meditate on My Word day and night."  Because courageous leadership doesn't grow out of self-confidence.   It grows out of confidence in God.    …    

The verse also shows us something incredibly important about why meditation matters.   Listen again to what God says.   …   "Meditate on it, day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it."   …   Did you catch that?     God doesn't simply tell Joshua to meditate so he'll know more.      He tells him to meditate so he'll live differently.       Knowledge was never the final goal.  Obedience was.       When Scripture fills your mind, it begins guiding your decisions.  When it settles into your heart, it begins shaping your desires.  And when both your mind AND your heart are being transformed by God’s word, your actions naturally begin reflecting God's will.    …    

That's why biblical meditation is so much more than quiet reflection.  It's transformation. already underway.       The longer you dwell on God's truth, the more your life begins mirroring the truth you've been contemplating.    …    You don't wake up one morning and suddenly decide to become more like Christ.       It happens one day, one verse, one choice at a time.

Then, God ends His command to Joshua with a promise.  ...   He says, "Then you will prosper and succeed." Now, if we're honest, those words can make us a little uncomfortable.    Because when we hear the words “prosperity...and success” ... our minds usually go in the wrong direction.     We think of money, Achievement, Recognition, Influence, Promotions, Awards, and Applause.     After all, that's how ..our culture defines success.   ...   But that's not how God defines it.    ...   

In God's eyes, success is first and foremost about faithfulness.         It's walking in HIS ways; Remaining aligned with HIS purposes; Allowing your life to reflect HIS character.    ...   Success, is becoming the kind of person who trusts Him; obeys Him; and follows Him whether anyone notices or not; Whether life is easy or difficult; Whether the road is smooth or filled with obstacles.    ...   When God promises Joshua prosperity and success, He isn't promising that every battle will be easy. He isn't promising that every plan will work perfectly. And He isn't promising a life without hardship.    ...   He IS promising something far better. He promises a life that remains aligned with Him.          And a life that stays aligned with God will always produce fruit that lasts.    ...   

You see, biblical prosperity always begins on the inside. It begins with a heart anchored in God's truth.        It grows out of a mind being renewed daily by His Word.     And eventually, it shows up in a life that reflects HIS wisdom, HIS love, HIS purity, and HIS character.    ...   When your heart is fixed on Christ; your decisions begin following His truth.     When your mind keeps returning to Scripture, your life begins staying in step with God's will.    ...   And THAT's success!     Not according to our culture  -  According to God. 

That's why meditation on Scripture matters so much.     ...   Every day you make the choice to chew on God's Word, God is shaping your perspective; strengthening your faith; He's building stability into your life; and teaching you to see people, circumstances, temptations, and opportunities through His eyes instead of your own.            

And little by little, almost without realizing it, your responses begin changing; Your priorities begin changing; Your desires begin changing    ...    Not because you're trying to become a different person; but because God is making you into a different person. THAT’S the prosperity God promises. Not shallow, Not temporary, Not dependent on your bank account or your circumstances. It's the deep, lasting blessing that comes from a life rooted in God's Word; Shaped by His truth; and daily Walking in step with Him.    ...    

So, let me ask you one final question before we close. When was the last time you intentionally slowed down long enough to truly meditate on God's Word?         Not just read it; Not just hear it; But actually stay with it,  Think about it,  Pray through it   ...   Chew on it.    ...    Because that's where God does some of His deepest work. Not in the hurried moments. But in the lingering ones. 

As we wrap up today's episode, I'd like to recommend a resource that I think would encourage you if you're serious about growing in your walk with Christ. It's my book entitled “Living Free: Victory through Surrender” ... available now on Amazon. You see, real freedom isn't found in simply knowing what God says. … It's found in listening to Him, Trusting Him, And surrendering to His leadership in the everyday moments of life.           It's one thing to hear God's truth. It's something entirely different to allow that truth to reshape your desires; Redirect your choices, And transform the way you live. 

In this resource: “Living Free: Victory through Surrender” we walk together through the ongoing battle of the heart. We'll talk about worship, Focus, Desires, Temptation, Surrender, And what it really means to follow Christ from the inside out. .    ...    But perhaps, the most important lesson you'll discover is this: Lasting victory over sin doesn't come from trying harder … It comes from surrendering more completely to the One who knows you best and loves you most. .    ...    

So, if today's study has challenged you to move beyond simply reading God's Word and toward meditating on it, living it, and obeying it ... I think you'll find “Living Free: Victory through Surrender” to be a wonderful companion for that journey. I hope you'll head over to Amazon and pick up a copy.     ...     

Before we go, could I ask you a personal favor? If this series on the fear of God has encouraged you, challenged you, or helped you in any way ... I'd really love to hear from you.  What has God been teaching you? How has He been using these episodes in your life? Would you take just a minute and send me an email? … You can reach me at steve@thepuritycoach.com  .    ...    again that address is … steve@thepuritycoach.com    I read every message, and it would be a genuine joy to hear your story and pray for you.

And if you haven't already subscribed to this podcast ... I'd like to encourage you to do that today. That way you won't miss next week's episode as we continue our study on what it means to fear God. .    ...    Next week we'll look together at Choice Number Five. Until then, this is Steve Etner,  reminding you that if to glorify God in your everyday living ... He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking.