BIBLE MESSAGES AND MEDITATION
By Dr. Sunday Adache
(2 Timothy 3: 16; Joshua 1:8)
“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.” 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV)
We spend considerable time examining things outside ourselves. We examine other people's conduct, analyse their words, question their motives and quickly recognize their weaknesses. We examine businesses, governments, churches and society. Yet Scripture repeatedly directs the searchlight in another direction: Examine yourself.
Biblical meditation is not complete when we have merely examined the meaning of a passage. At some point, the passage must be allowed to examine us.
This is practical inward search—the deliberate practice of bringing our thoughts, motives, desires, attitudes and conduct before God under the searching light of His Word.
Turn The Searchlight Inward
Paul's exhortation is unmistakably personal: “Examine yourselves… Test yourselves.”
Notice the repeated word: yourselves. There is a tendency to use Scripture as a searchlight on other people. We hear a sermon and immediately think of somebody who needs it. We read about pride and remember a proud person. We study forgiveness and think about the unforgiving Christian we know.
Meditation reverses this tendency. It asks: What is God saying to me? The Word must first become a mirror before it becomes a window. Before looking through Scripture at everybody else, look into Scripture and see yourself.
EXAMINE AND PROBE YOUR WAYS
“Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD.” Lamentations 3:40
Notice the progression: Search. Examine. Turn. The purpose of self-examination is not endless introspection. It is correction and return. We search to discover. We examine to understand. We return to God where change is required.
Meditation therefore becomes practical when it moves beyond discovering biblical information into examining our actual ways. The question is no longer merely, “What does this verse mean?” but, “Where does my life agree or disagree with this truth?”
That question can be uncomfortable. But spiritual growth requires willingness to face them.
Test your own work
Paul writes: “But let each one examine his own work…” Galatians 6:4 Comparison is one of the great enemies of genuine self-examination. We can make ourselves feel righteous by finding someone whose behaviour appears worse than ours. But another person's failure is not God's standard for our lives. The question is not, “Am I doing better than him?” Nor, “Am I more spiritual than her?”
The question is: “Does my life agree with God's Word?” Meditation removes the convenient comparison with other people and places us before the divine standard.
“Search me, o god”
David takes inward examination even deeper: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23–24
This is remarkable because David asks God to conduct the search. Because self-examination has limitations. We can deceive ourselves. We can rename our weaknesses. Pride may be called confidence. Greed may be called ambition. Bitterness may be described as justified anger. Fear may disguise itself as caution. Self-interest may appear to us as wisdom.
Therefore, the mature believer does not merely say, “I have examined myself and found nothing wrong.”
He says: “Search me, O God.” Meditation brings us before the Word with this openness: Lord, show me what I cannot see about myself.
Let The Word Ask You Questions
One practical method of meditation is to turn Scripture into questions. Suppose you are meditating on love. Do not stop after defining love. Ask: Am I loving?
When reading about forgiveness, ask: Whom am I still refusing to forgive?
When reading about humility, ask: Where is pride operating in me?
When reading about generosity, ask: Would I still give if nobody knew that I gave?
When reading about purity, ask: Are my private thoughts consistent with my public Christian profession?
This is where meditation moves from information to examination, Scripture begins interrogating the heart.
As you meditate, pause long enough for questions such as these to become personal:
Do my private thoughts agree with my public profession?
Are my words expressing what is genuinely in my heart?
Would I still perform this good deed if nobody ever knew about it?
Am I obeying God from love, or merely protecting a religious reputation?
Is there anger, lust, envy, pride, greed or unforgiveness that my outward behaviour successfully conceals?
What motive is driving my prayer, giving, preaching, ministry or service?
What would I change today if pleasing God mattered more than pleasing people?
Is the Word changing only what I do, or also what I desire and think?
Do not rush through these questions. A question hurriedly answered may leave the heart untouched.
The Discovery From Uncomfortable Answers
One reason people avoid inward searching is that they fear what they may discover. But discovering a problem is better than remaining ignorant of it.
A medical examination may reveal something we would rather not hear, but early discovery can lead to timely treatment. In the same way, the Word may expose a spiritual condition we would prefer not to acknowledge.
Hebrews describes the Word as “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Notice that it reaches both thoughts and intentions. God's Word examines not only what we did but why we did it. The purpose is not condemnation for its own sake. Divine examination is meant to lead to repentance, cleansing, correction and growth.
The Disciplined Response to Correction
Inward search without response accomplishes little. “Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD.” After examination comes turning.
If meditation exposes pride, humble yourself.
If it reveals unforgiveness, forgive.
If it uncovers dishonesty, correct it.
If it reveals an impure thought pattern, reject and replace it.
If it exposes a wrong motive in ministry, surrender that motive to God.
If it reveals neglected obedience, act.
The objective of meditation is not merely to become increasingly knowledgeable about our weaknesses. It is to become increasingly transformed by truth.
Search must lead to discovery; discovery must lead to repentance; repentance must lead to correction; and correction must become a changed way of life.
The Private Person and the Public Personality
One of the most important subjects for inward search is the distance between who we appear to be and who we actually are.
Public reputation can conceal private deterioration.
People hear our words. God knows our thoughts.
People see our giving. God sees our motives.
People hear our prayers. God knows whether our hearts are engaged.
People see ministry. God knows whether it flows from love, ambition, competition or desire for recognition.
Practical meditation continually reduces the distance between the public person and the private person. Spiritual integrity develops when what we think, what we say, what we profess, and what we do increasingly agree.
Put Yourself Under the Searchlight
Do not meditate merely to obtain another sermon, quotation, promise or revelation. Sometimes the greatest revelation God can give you from a passage is a revelation about yourself.
Therefore, regularly put yourself under the searchlight of Scripture. Do not ask only, “What have I learned?” Ask, “What has this Word discovered in me?”
Do not ask only, “What should people do?” Ask, “What must I do?”
Do not ask only, “Who does this Scripture describe?” Ask, “Lord, does it describe me?”
And when the answer is uncomfortable, do not hurry away. Remain before the Word until the Holy Spirit brings conviction, correction and direction. Pray with David: “Search me, O God.” Then have the courage to accept what the search reveals and the obedience to change what must be changed.
This is practical inward search: Scripture ceases to be merely a book in our hands and becomes God's searchlight within our hearts. Meditation holds that light steadily upon the inner person until hidden things are exposed, wrong ways are corrected, motives are purified, and the believer is led increasingly in “the way everlasting.”
About the writer: Dr. Sunday Adache is a bi-vocational minister of the gospel.
Contacts: abejuh@gmail.com or +266-63179799) visit resources at dradache.com
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