“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right,whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8–9, NASB95)
Meditation is a lost discipline among most Christ-followers. How do I know that believers are not meditating as they should? Because most believers are not experiencing the peace of God. It is obvious, if believers had the peace of God that passes all understanding guarding their hearts and minds, then the world would be busting down our doors to find out the source of the believer’s peace. Also, believers would not be overwhelmed by the circumstances of the world.
The discipline of meditation is to dwell on or “murmur” over. Christ-followers are to take the Word of God and dwell on it. By speaking God’s Word to themselves in order to deepen their relationship with God, His will, and His Word for their life. The Old Testament practice of meditation was considered to be similar to the practice of chewing and digesting a meal. Biblical meditation heals the believer’s heart and brings inner peace.
In this passage, Paul describes how a Christ-follower can have peace through meditating on a unified thought life based on the following divine virtues. Paul says to “Think on these things…” What things? Meditate on whatever is true, honorable, right pure, lovely, and good repute, excellence, and worthy of praise. Why is this important? Because stable Christian living comes from a stable heart, the heart that is grounded in divine virtue. Thus, believers are to become grounded in these divine virtues so their hearts will experience the “Peace of God.”
One Week Meditation challenge: Find ten promises of God in the Bible. Every time you are tempted to go to a social media page, meditate on one of those promises before going online. Tell Alexa or Siri to set a timer and spend 5 minutes meditating, dwelling, and speaking out loud that promise. You may find yourself spending less time frustrated by social media posts and more time hearing God’s voice.