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Spending time in Scripture has looked different for me in this season than it has in previously. It’s been slower, often has involved less reading, and more time thinking and meditating on short passages.
During my sabbatical, Matthew 11:28-30 was a constant companion. God was regularly bringing it to mind, drawing attention to different words or phrases, or emphasizing an aspect of those verses I hadn’t thought much about.
Outside of this passage, I really wasn’t reading my Bible much. Sometimes I felt guilty about that. The way I’d been taught to practice the discipline of reading and studying Scripture was to make it a daily routine. That routine was often accompanied by a reading plan, preferably one that had me on track to read the whole Bible in a year.
There’s nothing wrong with a routine that looks like that. It works well for some people, or some seasons.
As I continue to walk this road of faith and keep digging into how to practice the spiritual disciplines in a healthy and holistic way, I keep learning again and again that living devoted and how that plays out in the practices can look different as seasons change.
Despite our western achievement culture that often colors our faith practices, we don’t have to read the entire Bible in a year. We don’t have to follow a Bible reading plan. We have the great gift of living in a time when the Bible is made readily available to so many of us. With just a few taps on our phone we can access any translation, any passage at any time.
But part of the work God is doing in me is untangling the expectations and pressures I feel to practice spiritual disciplines in a particular way.
The reality is, while I didn’t read much of my Bible during that sabbatical season, I had some very rich and meaningful time with the Lord, dwelling on this one piece of Scripture.
Rather than engaging widely in God’s Word, I engaged deeply.
This practice of meditating on shorter passages is something that continues to be part of my faith in this season. Lately, I’ve felt pretty drawn to the Sermon on the Mount, so I’ve been hanging out there, reading those same three chapters over and over.
There is certainly value to reading through the entire Bible. There is value to seeing the larger narrative story of God’s love and redemption from Genesis to Revelation.
But there is also great value in focusing on small sections and sitting with them for longer than one reading session.
There is value to meditating on God’s Word.
As we explore this practice today, here are 5 tips I’ve learned along the way about meditating on Scripture.
Tip 1: Remember what meditation is and is not.
A quick recap if you’re new around here, or if meditating on Scripture is a new-to-you practice. I know this phrasing can make us Western Christians a little hesitant or avoidant. Meditation is often equated with New Age or Eastern religious practices. It can also be misunderstood as a state of emptying our minds of everything.
This is not the case with Scripture meditation.
To meditate simply means to think deeply about or focus on a particular thought or idea for an extended amount of time. In this case, that thought or idea is God’s Word.
It is different from memorization, which is just focused on committing words or information to memory. Though, you may find you’ve memorized a passage after an extended season of meditating.
Meditation is an open conversation with God about a particular passage, often one where we are the ones doing more of the listening and God is doing more of the talking and directing.
Meditation is a good space to ask wondering questions, to let the imagery of scripture fill your mind, to ask God what this passage means in this season or why you feel so drawn to it.
Meditation leaves space for questions and holy imagination.
Meditation can link ideas and tug on threads that may lead somewhere different.
Meditation is less focused on getting something out of our time in Scripture and more about pondering and observing what is already there.
It is less active, and more pondering. Meditation may lead us down rabbit trails. It may lead us in circles that are ever-deepening and widening.
Meditation is not a sprint, but a slow leisurely stroll with regular stops to sit and rest or admire the view of Scripture.
Tip 2: Read a passage often and in different translations
In my season meditating on Matthew 11:28-30, I read the passage often. I’d open a Bible or the app on my phone just to read those three verses, to see them with my eyes. Sometimes I’d read it out loud. If the words started to feel rote, I’d find the words in a different translation. The Message paraphrases this passage so well, and I’d sit with this version often too.
Part of meditating on Scripture is returning to the same words over and over again. And if one translations feels too familiar, there is a lot of benefit in reading the passage you’re meditating on in multiple translations.
No one translation of the Bible presents the whole picture of the original text. Hebrew and Greek, the original languages of the Bible, are rich languages, and English doesn’t always capture it. That’s why so many translations of the Bible exist. That’s why it’s such a benefit to read from different translations over a lifetime.
Each time we approach a passage with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, He has a way of pointing out something new, in the verse itself, in us, in His character, or in the wider story of Scripture.
Tip 3: Think about it and reflect
Along with reading and re-reading a passage, it’s important to take time to think about and reflect on the passage. I’ll find this happening naturally throughout the day. When I’m working on a more mindless task.
Usually I’ll find myself asking wondering questions.
I wonder what coming to Jesus means in this season?
I wonder what God’s rest looks like for the weary and burdened?
I wonder why God keeps bring this particular passage to mind.
Wondering questions aren’t direct or eager for answers. They simply allow us to ponder.
Wondering questions open our hearts to hear from God in a way that isn’t demanding or desperate questions.
Sometimes wondering questions don’t need answers. They simply create space for us to sit in the mystery of God’s grace and love, safe, secure, and trusting.
While I’ve been content in this season to let the wondering happen in my head, having a journal handy to capture your reflections and wondering could be helpful.
Tip 4: Write out your passage
In my early stages of exploring the spiritual practice of Scripture meditation, I started out by writing Scripture. I’d stumbled across the Write the Word Journals from Cultivate What Matters in a season when Bible study was becoming too much. I needed something simple.
These journals present a Scripture writing plan focused on a particular theme or topic and give generous space to write out the passage and reflect on it.
I’ve decided to bring this journal back into my resources lineup for this Advent Season.
Scripture writing has become a widely used spiritual practice, and there are tons of resources out there to explore. Daily Grace Co. has some beautiful blank journals if you want to create your own adventure, or their Dwell in the Word journal.
I’ve also created a guided journal for Bible study and Scripture meditation called the Devoted Scripture Journal.
Writing out the passage you’re meditating on gives you the space to slow down, really dwell on the words you’ve chosen to sit in.
Tip 5: Pair Scripture meditation with movement
The last tip, may be an unexpected one, and that is to move your body. Like I mentioned earlier with letting my mind wander and wonder as I do mindless tasks, it can be helpful to move as you meditate on Scripture.
Moving gives your body something to do and frees your mind.
So try taking a walk.
Do a chore.
Exercise.
Work on a creative project and use that project as a way to meditate on and explore the passage you’re focused on.
For me, yoga has been a helpful way to practice meditation. I found a woman, Caroline Williams, on Youtube who pairs yoga with Scripture meditation, and it has been so life-giving and good for my body.
Meditating on Scripture is such a rich practice. It takes the pressure off that we study or understand everything about the Scripture, and instead makes space for us to move slowly through the words, to ponder them, to sit in them.
Want to keep reading about meditating on Scripture. Check out these other posts:
4 Benefits to Writing Out God’s Word
A Rhythm of Writing the Word
