In the previous message about the sacrifice of Jesus, I mentioned the following:
"One of the things that always stands out for me about what Jesus did, is that He chose to do it. To consider that Jesus chose to overlook the shame, embarrassment, pain, betrayal, rejection, etc. - for me! He made the ultimate sacrifice for me! It made me reflect and consider - how much am I prepared to sacrifice for Him? The times that He wants me to spend with Him, to read the Bible, pray, attend church or small group meetings, share the gospel with others, to give to support the preaching of the gospel, etc. Or the times when I'm required to forgive others as God forgave me, to love others as God loves me ... how can any of these be seen as "too much" when I consider how much He's done and given me ... He gave His life for me!
There's nothing God can ask of us that can match/beat what He's already done for us!
Let us consider the sacrifice Jesus has made and be challenged and encouraged to offer our lives to Him as He so freely offered up His life for us."
I'd like to build on from that message by speaking about the quality of our time spent with God.
The Bible often uses the word "meditate" and it's important for us to understand what is meant by that word. The old testament was written in Hebrew with a few chapters in Aramaic and the new testament in Greek. Therefore the Hebrew and Greek meaning of the word meditate means to reflect, contemplate, think, ponder; to pronounce, utter, meditate, speak, vocalize; to consider, study, deliberate, speculate.
More specifically:
- Hagah: muse, growl, moan, utter (Strong’s 1897). Found in: Joshua 1:8, Job, 27:4, Jeremiah 48:31, as well as various times in Psalms, Proverbs, and Isaiah. As Strong’s translates this word, it means “to murmur (in pleasure or anger); by implication, to ponder: imagine, meditate, mourn, mutter… speak, study, talk, utter”.
- Suach: muse (Strong’s 7742). The Complete Word Study Bible further expands on the usage of this word to mean, “a verb meaning to be bowed down; to be downcast. It refers often to the despair of one’s soul." Found in: Genesis 24:63. Strong’s gives the translation as: “to meditate, muse, commune, speak, or complain”.
- Meletaō: to care for, practice, study (Strong’s 3191). Found in: Acts 4:25, 1 Timothy 4:15. The third Strong’s definition of “meditate” that we find in the Bible is from the Greek word meletaō, which means “to take care of, i.e. (by implication) revolve in the mind, imagine, (pre-) meditate”.
For more information on the above, please visit the following websites from which this was extracted:
(https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/what-does-meditation-mean-in-the-bible-how-can-i-practice-biblical-meditation.html) and (https://justdisciple.com/christian-meditation/)
The reason why I've chosen to focus on the word "meditate" with regards to speaking about the quality of our time with God is because you'll notice that it's often used in connection with one of the activities associated with spending time with God, and that is time spent/given to His word. Please see below examples of this:
Joshua 1:8
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Psalm 1:1-2
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 77:12
I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.
Psalm 119:15-16
I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
Psalm 119:97
Oh,how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
Psalm 119:148
My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Another example is meditating with the intention to act:
1 Timothy 4:6-16
If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. These things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
Other examples can be found below:
Psalm 143:5
I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.
Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
So if meditation means to "reflect, contemplate, think, utter, vocalize, consider, study, deliberate", etc. then I have to ask myself, what does the quality of that meditation look like? The reason why I want to focus on the "quality" of our time spent with God is because it's something the Lord recently alerted me to, where I had to assess what that time looks like, and I'd like to encourage you to do the same.
So yes I would read the Bible, I would pray, I would spend time in worship and so forth but what was the quality of that time really like? Was I rushing through it as something I just wanted to tick off for that day? Did I even read it with the intention of desiring to learn something from it, to learn something about God or seek to act upon what I may have read?
During my times of worship, was it simply just singing along to a song or reading/saying words off a screen or did I really engage in my worship? In other words did I really focus on what I was doing, focus on who I was singing to, focus on what I may have been declaring ... Did I even mean what I said while singing, from my heart, not just saying words for the sake of saying them?
The same can be said for my time in prayer - was I just mumbling a few words quickly in the morning before I start my day so that I could at least say that I've prayed and have some form of confidence that I prayed before starting my day; were my prayers selfish; did I even consider praying for others, and if so, when last have I done so; when I told someone that I would keep them in prayer, did I even do it; and again, when I pray, have I been praying from a position of faith or just simply going through the "rituals", saying what I know to say, for the sake of saying it ... do I believe what I'm saying ... Have I been approaching my time of prayer in faith believing God would answer, or again, has it just been another tick box exercise ...?
The same can be said for other areas like how I would approach watching a Christian teaching, attending small group meetings or Sunday church services
How many of the above activities have I tried to cram in while being busy with something else (while checking my phone or responding to messages, maybe quickly while on my way somewhere, etc.) With so many distractions around us and so many things fighting for our attention, has my relationship with God become something that I've had to TRY AND MAKE TIME for ... have I had to cram God into my schedule instead of my schedule revolving around my time with Him ... These were all self-reflecting questions that I asked myself when prompted to assess the quality of my time spent with God ...
What does the quality of my time spent with God look like ... and am I happy with it ...?
Next time I'll share some practical things we can do to improve on this.