I came across this tonight and thought I would share it with you! I think this is what I am lacking is meditation. Tell me what part stood out too you?
Suck out the sweetness
(Thomas Watson, "The Christian Soldier" 1669)
Meditation is a holy exercise of the mind; whereby we
bring the truths of God to remembrance--and seriously
ponder upon them and apply them to ourselves. It is a
work which cannot be done in a crowd. A Christian must
retire from the world, to have serious thinking upon God.
It is not a few transient thoughts that are quickly gone;
but a fixing and staying of the mind upon heavenly
objects.
As the bee sucks the honey from the flower--so by
meditation we suck out the sweetness of a truth.
It is not the receiving of food into the mouth, but the
digesting of it, which makes it nutritious. Just so, it is
not the receiving of the most excellent truths in the
ear, which nourishes our souls--but the digesting of
them by meditation.
Satan does what he can to hinder this duty. He is an
enemy of meditation. The devil does not care not how
much we read--so long as we do not meditate on what
we read. Reading begets knowledge--but meditation
begets devotion. "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate
on it all day long." Psalm 119:97
Holy meditation quickens the affections. The reason
why our affections are so cold to heavenly things--is
because we do not warm them at the fire of holy
meditation. As the musing on worldly objects makes
the fire of lust burn; and as the musing on injuries
makes the fire of revenge burn; just so, meditating
on the transcendent beauties of Christ, would make
our love to Christ flame forth.
Meditation has a transforming power in it. The reading
of the Word may affect us--but the meditating upon it
transforms us. Meditation stamps the impression of divine
truths upon our hearts. By meditating on God's holiness,
we grow holy. While by meditation we look upon God's
purity--we are changed into His likeness.
Meditation produces reformation. "I have considered
my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes."
Psalm 119:59. If we would spend but one quarter of
an hour every day in contemplating heavenly objects,
it would leave a mighty impression upon us!
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... that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. Romans 1:12
3 comments:
As the bee sucks the honey from the flower--so by
meditation we suck out the sweetness of a truth.
It is not the receiving of food into the mouth, but the
digesting of it, which makes it nutritious.
This is a excellent word picture for me to realize the importance of meditation.
Reading begets knowledge--but meditation begets devotion.
In my own life this is so true. My heart is cold while my head is filled with facts!
These are a few things that stood out to me. I thought all of it was incredible! It really makes me desire to meditate on the word!!
There are really two things that stood out to me... while of course the whole passage was very powerful... but first, it cannot be done in a crowd... We cannot meditate on God's Word with the TV on or MSN open in front of us because we will get too easily distracted... God is our creator and we should be willing to take time to focus on Him.
The second thing is actually where is says Satan does not care how much we read, but how we meditate. I think too often I get so caught up in just reading to read my Bible instead of reading to Meditate on the words God has given me, sometimes just a chapter a day is enough if you focus on that one chapter and really pick out the truth of His Word...
And Kara, just a quick comment to your comment on my entry titled Passion... I would agree with what you said, the Passions I listed are ones that I truely desire to have, but might not be living out right now, I would say mine are closer to yours... TV and Internet can be awful things when they are abused and overused!
I need to start posting faster so I can take some of the good stuff before you guys get it all :) Now I totally agree with what you both said and I really enjoyed reading this, so to avoid being redundant I will pick something else that stood out to me.
"If we would spend but one quarter of
an hour every day in contemplating heavenly objects,
it would leave a mighty impression upon us!"
When I first read this my honest, initial reaction was, that is so much time, how could someone do that. But then as I think of it and consider the greatness and glory of our God my next reaction is "Why would I not want to do that?" Why would I not want to spend a 1/4 of my day with the infinite creator of the universe who loves me and cares for me like his daughter.
Whom have I in heaven but Him and earth has none that I desire besides Him. If that were true why would I not.
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