The primary key to scriptural meditation—your Bible—is implicit in
its name. You must choose and carefully read a passage upon which to meditate.
Choose—there’s the rub! The Word of God is packed so full of gems with personal
treasures for you, His beloved child, that choosing just one is sometimes a difficult
task in itself. If you have a specific need or problem, your choice is easier.
Use a concordance or one of those lists of passages addressing a variety of
needs, moods, or problems contained in the back of many Bibles. Or look on
line.
If you just want to feel close to Him (what could be more
important, after all?) pick a story from His life or choose a favorite Bible
story with which you are already familiar. You’ll be surprised at what new
things you’ll learn!
In a pinch, you can just open the Bible and point. Unless you hit
the genealogies (and maybe even then), it’s almost a guarantee that you’ll find
a vivid picture of God. Here’s an important note if you have never done
anything like this and are afraid you haven’t enough imagination, God has given
everyone just the minds needed to get to know Him. He also expects us to
develop ever-increasing abilities to see and hear Him, and it won’t always be
easy. Sometimes it will seem impossible. But He said you could know Him, and “has
He spoken, and will He not make it good?”(Numbers 23:19) Here’s another
encouraging note from someone else. Ellen White was speaking to someone who had
not accepted truth that was new to him, so she uses “if-you-had,-God-would-have”
language. That means that for someone who wants to accept all the truth God has, it could also read “if you do, God will.” Here
is what she says:
“If you had received the truth into a good and honest heart, you
would have become a channel of light, with clear perception and sanctified
imagination. Your conceptions of truth would have been exalted, and your heart
made joyful in God. God would have given you a testimony clear, powerful, and
convincing.” (1888 Materials, 1052)
When you meditate, keep your Bible near at hand. The depth of the
blessing you receive from biblical meditation will be dependent on how much
care you take to become familiar with God’s Word before going on. What the
Bible says is far more important than anything you or I or anyone else says or
thinks about the Bible.
You will especially need your Bible after you meditate, if you
feel that God has given you any new or different understanding of truth. Check
what you think He told you with what He has already said. Remember what we read
in Isaiah 8:20: “If they speak not according to this word, it is because they
have no dawn,” or no light. It’s possible to be honest and still get off track,
if you don’t immediately check your impressions with God’s revealed Word.
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