What do you think of when you hear the word meditation? Buddhism, Yoga or Yoda? When you think about meditation, does the Bible ever come to mind?
Psalm 119:97 says:
“How I love Your teaching! It is my meditation all day long”.
What sort of meditation is this talking about? Is it the same as in Buddhism or Yoga or even what Yoda does? No.
Eastern religion vs Christian meditation
There are some clear differences between Christian meditation, and meditation that is associated with Eastern religions.
First, Eastern meditation is a technique. There are exercises to be done, methods to be followed. Christian meditation is not a technique with rules, but a relationship with living dynamics.
Second, Eastern meditation is passive. The aim is to disconnect, to empty oneself, to let go. The mind empties itself and goes into neutral. But Christian meditation is active. We do not empty our minds; we fill them thoroughly with God’s truth. We do not lose our attention, but focus and concentrate it on Jesus. We do not seek relaxation, we seek attentiveness to the Word of God. We do not let ideas float around with no fixed direction, we fix our thoughts on the Word, the promises, the commandments, the self-revelation of God.
Ready to meditate?
Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, by the help of God.
So grab a Bible, pray to God and start meditating now.