Meditation: Food for Thought
Because we are compared to sheep in the Bible, we can learn a lot about meditation by studying these wooly creatures. Just like sheep ruminate - or chew their cud after feeding - we need to meditate, or "chew again" the spiritual food we consume.
In Psalm 23, we read about the shepherd leading his sheep "beside still waters" and making them "lie down in green pastures." Sheep are skittish around running water, and stagnant water carries many parasites. For this reason, prime-time feeding for sheep is early in the morning while dew is still heavy on the grass.
As they graze - or mow down grass with abandon - sheep also pick up a lot of trash with their food. Small sticks, bits of gravel, burrs, whatever is in that particular field. It all gets swallowed down with the grass but is brought up again and spit out during the rumination process.
Now picture a flock of sheep with full tummies, lounging in the shade. The shepherd is on guard duty nearby, and they are relaxed and content. They have nothing else to do but lie there and chew the cud - bringing it up again several times - in order to properly digest what they consumed earlier.
We would do well to spiritually feed on God's Word early in the day when things are quiet. Once the day begins in earnest, it's too easy to get distracted. Then, by the time evening rolls around, we may be too tired to focus properly or may even forget to pick up our Bibles. Last, but not least, setting the clock a bit earlier means we offer the Lord the "first fruits" of our day.
According to Webster's dictionary, meditation means "deep, continued thought; solemn reflection on sacred matters as a devotional act." As we read the Bible or listen to a sermon, we are feeding the inward man the bread of life - God's Word. This spiritual food not only gives us daily nourishment, it is never stale or outdated!
When we ruminate - or meditate - we take time to think back on what we've read or heard. We give "deep, continued thought" to what we've read and "taste and see that the Lord is good." We roll around in our minds the sweet promises, blessings, and instruction His Word has for us. As the psalmist David wrote, "I will meditate in Thy precepts and have respect unto Thy ways. I will delight myself in Thy statutes: I will not forget Thy law." In the New Testament we are told numerous times to study, to consider, to remember, to "think on these things."
God compares us to sheep for good reason. Sheep tend to stray, and so do we. Sheep are vulnerable to attack by their enemies. We are also vulnerable to attacks by a powerful enemey we cannot hope to defeat in our own strength. Satan is described as a "roaring lion... seeking whom he may devour."
Sheep also tend to drink from stagnant waters that breed parasites and disease. It is the shepherd who leads them to still, clear waters. We, by nature, seek to quench our inward thirst in the wrong places with the wrong things. It is the Good Shepherd Who leads us to the Water of Life where we are invited to drink freely.
After feeding, sheep lie down in shady green pastures to ruminate or "chew again" what they've eaten. Resting in the care of the shepherd, they have no other concern. After we feed on God's Word, we find sweet peace and protection in the shadow of His wings. What a perfect time to ruminate - or meditate - after getting our spiritual tummies full. It's what a healthy sheep does.