As Tera and I were reading our devotion a couple of nights ago, we read about meditation- to meditate on God's word. The author defined meditation as "when studying the Bible and praying crash into each other." By this definition, I fall short indeed. Sometimes I fall asleep in the middle of my prayer time. My Bible reading is often interspersed with children needing something, the phone ringing, some timer going off, or the dog whining to go out.
Meditation...interrupted.
We read the focus verse for the day:
"Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. "
Joshua 1:8
And I started thinking....yeah, I've been doing that a lot lately.
What if we looked at meditation in a different way?
What about IMMERSION?
Immersing ourselves in God's word and His presence throughout the day. Being so surrounded by it that we can't help but participate.
How can we do that?
Purposely decide to pray and/or read our Bible before we even get out of bed.
Listen to Scripture songs or praise music throughout our day. This is one of my favorite series:
Incorporate Bible reading into your daily schoolwork- through assigned Bible reading, listening to passages on audio (like Bible Gateway), have your kids (and yourself, too) memorize passages of Scripture and hymns, use Bible verses for copywork.
Have short devotionals scattered throughout your house and pick one up when or if you have a free moment.
Do family devotions with your kids. In our house, this is just reading a short passage from a kid's picture Bible.
Have a special devotion time one-on-one time with a child. I really felt the need to do a devotional with Tera this year. She is turning 12 in October and it just seems like the years are flying by. I want to make sure we are staying connected and communicating through these awkward years. I found this awesome devotional:
I feel like I'm learning more than she is!
Now, I have to admit that some days I struggle more than others...but I will continue to strive to immerse myself in God's word.
18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
Deuteronomy 11:18-21
