As a kid growing up in church, I remember being warned about meditation. Meditation was a weird and scary habit, something practiced by Hollywood actors who sat in a lotus position while reciting ancient Hindu mantras. Perhaps because of the fear that meditation is too closely connected to Eastern religion, I’ve rarely heard of a pastor encouraging his congregation to meditate.
The Bible does encourage God’s people to meditate on His Word, though.
When you lie down in your bed at night, or when you awake in the morning and your house is quiet and still, what voices do you hear? What are the thoughts that fill your mind when your gadgets and books aren’t there to distract you? Perhaps you hear words like these:
“I’ve made a mess of everything.”
“My best years are behind me.”
“God could not possibly love someone like me.”
Maybe you repeat those words to yourself, over and over again, until they seem like indisputable facts. You find yourself caught in a loop, one that causes you to question God’s goodness and love for you. Not long ago, I heard a quote from the well-known 20th Century preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Here’s what he had to say about those words of condemnation that we heap upon ourselves in those moments of quiet reflection: