February 20

Meditation on the word

“Meditate on these things” (1 Tim. 4:15).
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8).

We must read the Book thoughtfully. Thoughtfulness is in danger of being a lost art. Newspapers are so numerous and literature so abundant, that we are becoming a bright but not a thoughtful people. Often the stream is very wide, but has no depth. Fight shallowness. Insist on reading thoughtfully. A very suggestive word in the Bible for this is “meditate.” Run through and pick out this word with its variations. The word underneath that English word means to mutter, as though a man were repeating something over and over again, as he turned it over in his mind. We have another word, with the same meaning, not much used now—ruminate.


We call a cow a ruminant because she chews the cud. She will spend hours chewing the cud, and then give us the rich milk and cream and butter which she has extracted from her food. That is the word here—ruminate. Chew the cud, if you would get the richest cream and butter here.
And it is remarkable how much chewing this Book of God will stand in comparison with other books.
—S. D. Gordon.

When quiet in my house I sit,
Thy Book be my companion still;
My joy Thy sayings to repeat,
Talk o’er the records of Thy will,
And search the oracles divine,
Till ev’ry heartfelt word be mine.

O may the gracious words divine,
Subject of all my converse be;
So will the Lord His follower join,
And walk and talk Himself with me:
So shall my heart His presence prove,
And burn with everlasting love.
—Charles Wesley.

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