“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.”
Psalm 119:15
Cattle are interesting animals. For example, did you know a cow has four stomachs! This amazing creature is able to eat grass and other vegetation because it gradually passes that food between these various stomachs. When it chews its cud a cow is essentially burping up some of the partially digested grass in one of its stomachs so it can chew it some more and finish the job of processing the nutrients. This whole process is called “rumination”, a
word deriving from the Latin ruminare, which means “to chew over again.” That’s what they are doing when they are laying down peacefully moving their jaws.
At this point you may be wondering what this has to do with the Christian life? Well, it has often been said that a cow chewing its cud is akin to the Christian practice of meditation. Unlike Eastern Meditation, which is about emptying the mind, Christian meditation is about filling our minds and hearts with God’s word. Meditation is about “fixing our eyes” on God’s ways, rejoicing over his teaching, and constantly remembering what it means for our lives. In a practical sense meditation on God’s word is about “chewing over again” the thing that we have previously read or encountered in scripture. Meditation requires slowing down, focusing our mind and heart, and intentionally applying God’s word to our lives. Could it be that sometimes the word of God is stale to us simply because we haven’t taken the time to really mull it over and reflect on it?
I encourage all of us this week to not simply read the Bible, but “chew it over again” throughout the day. Take a small portion of scripture and wring from it everything that God may want to teach you. When we ruminate on scripture amazing new insights can be the result. For God delights in the one who seeks His face and rewards those who boldly seek to be taught by Him. Psalm 139 & 86, & 42 are good places to start. Darren