Chew On It

March 31, 2018

“Isaac went out in the evening to meditate in the field.” Genesis 24:63. I wonder what Isaac would do in the evening if he lived in the modern world. Watch TV? Surf the Net? Tweet and Text? It’s hard for us to imagine life without electronics and media, but less than a generation ago, entertainment consisted of three network channels and radio. No one walked down the street with their nose in a phone. People actually carried on conversations with one another. And without all the devices giving us minute by minute updates on everything from fashion to politics, people actually took time to think about their lives, the world around them, and God.

It was called meditation; the Hebrew word came from the agricultural world—it was the word used of a cow chewing its cud. For those who don’t know, a cow has four stomachs. Actually, it’s one stomach with four compartments. The cow chews the grass or hay just enough to swallow it. The chewed food enters the first of the stomachs where it is stored. Later, the cow regurgitates the partially digested food and chews, extracting every bit of nutrient possible before swallowing again for complete digestion. 

Biblical meditation is unlike that of the Eastern religions like Buddhism. Eastern meditation is the attempt to empty the mind of all thought. Biblical meditation is different; instead of emptying the mind, it is the filling of the mind with thoughts of God. Jews and Christians do this by repeatedly going over the chosen text, attempting to extract every bit of meaning from it. Joshua 1:8 instructs us to not let “this book of the Law...depart out of our mouths, but we meditate on it day and night, [with the result that we have] good success and make our way prosperous.” 

I am as guilty as the next person when it comes to neglecting this important discipline. We are so used to being spoon fed whatever the media is dishing out, that we have forgotten how to think for ourselves, to our own peril. I am thankful for this reminder to use the evening hours for something deeper and more significant than the latest offering this world is pushing. Resisting the urge to simply vegetate means I might even hear from God. THAT would be something worth my thanksgiving!