Time Spent In God's Word

If we took a poll here in our church, I wonder how much time each of you spend in God's Word each day. Research shows that the average person is exposed to anywhere between 4,000 and 10,000 messages a day. You are probably thinking, "No way do I receive that many messages."

But think about the amount of time you spend in front of a screen. The average American logs more than 7 hours a day, looking at a screen. This includes more than 3 hours spent on our phones and nearly 4 hours on our desktop computers. We spend more than 2 hours of that time scrolling through social media. On top of all of that, we watch T.V. slightly more than 3 hours a day. At the same time, out of all that screen time and reading messages, only 39% of those who attend church at least once a month, "read a bit" of Scriptures each day.

These numbers show a troubling imbalance in our lack of time spent in the Scripture and its damaging effect on our spiritual vitality. All day long we are covered up with messages that compete for our attention. But how many of those messages are truly important and worthy of our time? In contrast to that, everything in God's Word is vitally important and worthy of our time. It is to our benefit that we regularly read, think about, and meditate on the truths of Scripture. Today, we will be using the writings of the psalmist in Psalm 1. Prayer

*****

People talk a lot about happiness. Whether it's at home or at work, people generally want to be happy. Even in our country's Declaration of Independence it mentions “the pursuit of happiness.” We might think of happiness as having the freedom to do whatever we wish, but the Bible paints a very different picture.

Psalm 1:1-2 – “How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!

2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.”

What comes to mind when you hear the word meditate? You might think of a monastery where a group of monks sit with their eyes closed in deep meditation. Or maybe you think about someone embracing Eastern religion and attempting to empty the mind and connect to nature.

Biblical meditation is a lot different than the meditation practiced by the Eastern religions. Rather than emptying your mind of your negative thoughts, Biblical meditation tries to fill your mind with God's truth. Instead of engaging your thoughts with nature or the universe, biblical meditation connects you into a deep relationship with God Himself as you think wholeheartedly about His written word.

If you look at the Hebrew word for “meditate", it means primarily "to be occupied with". But the word also means "to mumble to oneself." So instead of just silently thinking to yourself, Biblical meditation also involves audibly talking to yourself. If you put the 2 meanings together, you will be continually keeping God's word at the forefront of your mind and you will speak His truth over your circumstances.

Let's go back to that phrase "the pursuit of happiness.” The word happy in Scripture is many times equated with the word “blessed,” and many people prefer that, believing that happiness can be found only in the outward circumstances that you are in. Happiness has to do with what is happening at that moment in your life. Even though that might be the world's view of being happy, Scripture gives us a deeper meaning.

From God's perspective, ultimate happiness can't be found by fulfilling all your dreams, marrying the right person, or pursuing your own desires. The psalmist said we find true happiness by delighting in the Lord's instruction rather than walking in the ways of the world.

In verse one, the psalmist used 3 words to describe the ideologies and behaviors of the world—the wicked, the sinners, and the mockers. It is so easy for us to be tempted to walk in the advice of the world or to follow the example of sinful humanity. What happens is that when we get caught up in the ways of the world, we began looking for happiness apart from God. But you can't find happiness there.

I posted something on Facebook a few weeks ago that said God cannot give us happiness apart from Himself because it is not there. There is no such thing. True happiness, God's blessing, comes when a person delights in God's word and meditates on it day and night.

Psalm 1:3 – “He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”