To Meditate or Not to Meditate

Would anyone else confess to being a bit of a worrier?

Anyone?

Oh, yes. I see that hand. Thank you for your honesty.

Sometimes, when I read certain portions of Scripture, I get a little knot in my stomach. I begin to question, “Will I be around for that?” Or, “Does that apply to me?” So, when I begin reading where Jesus foretells wars and famines and persecution? Yeah, the worrier in me begins to arise. Then, I read this…

Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer… – Luke 21:14

and I smile.

What the Lord is saying here is, “Do not start worrying about this now.” He says there will be wars, earthquakes and terrors. Believers will be persecuted and imprisoned. Then, as if he sees the wheels beginning to turn in my mind, he says, “But do not meditate on that now.”

Synonyms: chew over, cogitate, consider, contemplate, debate,deliberate, entertain, eye, kick around, ponder, mull (over), perpend, pore (over), question, revolve,ruminate, study, think (aboutorover), turn, weigh,wrestle (with)

Because y’all know that, left to my own devices, I’m going to be contemplating some famines. I’m going to be pondering some imprisonment. I’m going to be wrestling with the whole terrors and signs from heaven. But those are not the things that I am to be meditating on right now.