“Happy is the person
who meditates on wisdom and reasons intelligently,
Who reflects on his
heart and on her ways and ponders her secrets,
Pursuing her like a
hunter, and lying in wait on her paths;
Who peers through her
windows and listens at her doors;” Sirach 14:20-23
That old
saying, “You have two ears and one mouth because you are supposed to listen
twice as much as you speak,” is great advice. Today we are a people that have
every kind of impulse and distraction in front of us. You could say that it is
so hard to get a quiet moment, let alone a quiet moment with God.
All through
the bible we are told that we are supposed to be quiet and meditate on God’s
word and listen to his voice, guidance and instruction. Today we have T.V.s
with hundreds of channels and have access to distractions and noise at the
click of a mouse or a swipe of a smart phone. Knowledge is right at our
fingertips and we are a culture of ADHD. In all of that how are we supposed to
find quiet?
This topic brings
to mind one of my favorite books, Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk. In this book the
author writes about how we are addicted to noise and sound and has some really
great quotes about life in general. It is a great philosophical read about the human
condition. One of my favorite quotes from the book is a reference to 1984 by
Orwell:
“Big
Brother isn’t watching. He’s singing and dancing. He’s pulling rabbits out of a
hat. Big Brother’s busy holding your attention every moment you’re awake. He’s
making sure you’re always distracted. He’s making sure you are fully absorbed.”
With propagandas
in our face every second of every day it is no surprise that we have become so
absorbed with consumerism. Marketing says that we have to get the message, ploy
or product in front of as many people as often as you can afford to. The world
wants your attention and we give it to the world. To raise our children we must
make sure that they not only go to school but have one or two after school
programs that keep them busy and four hours of homework every night. That’s
what they need to stay out of trouble.
If we are to
meditate on God’s word daily, what does that mean? Does that mean Yoga? What is
the draw of yoga besides the things the world tells us? It is a stress
reduction technique and much more. It is a way to relieve stress, tension and
offer peace. It is a really healthy thing that is needed in this world right
now. Many people that cannot take time out to just have some peace and quiet to
be with themselves and the ones they love will sit and be quiet in this
activity.
At least
they are getting a few moments of peace. When is the last time you sat and
listened to the rain fall outside? When was the last time you just sat quietly
and cleared your mind of everything that was going on in it? We need quiet. It
is in this quiet that we hear God’s voice most clearly.
The man in
the bible that is thought of as being the most wise human being in the bible is
Solomon. God poured wisdom into him like a fount. I find it funny that he says
more than anyone else the word Meditate. Webster defines Meditate as spending
time in quiet thought for religious purposes or relaxation. Be quiet and
listen.
You cannot
listen when you speak. You must hold quiet so you can hear. Turn off the TV,
close the computer. Turn off the phones, tablets and game systems. Take a deep
breath and as you exhale clear your mind of everything you are keeping track
of. Say a prayer to God and then just sit quietly for a minute. May mercy,
peace, and love be yours in abundance (Jude 1:2). It’s there for you, but you
just have to be willing to accept it.
Peace is a
gift from God just as Salvation is, but like Salvation we have an obligation to
seek it and hold quietly upon it. With a world of distractions how can we as a
people be listening to God? Do we wonder why the world has grown so far from
God and we hesitate to call ourselves Christians because we don’t want to be
associated with some people that call themselves Christian. Oh I’m Christian
but I’m not that kind of Christian.
We cannot
serve the world and serve God. We cannot listen to the world and listen to God
at the same time. We cannot talk and hear at the same time. Stop waiting for
your turn to speak and take your long past turn to listen. God is waiting on
you to turn your face to him and you can’t if your face is staring at Wolf Blitzer,
the latest reality show, or the stock market. How hard is it to kiss your
spouse without looking at them?
How hard is
it to love someone that you are ignoring? It’s impossible. It is also
impossible for you to receive love when you are similarly distracted. Take a
walk and be with God. Maybe you need to start a little closer to the flesh and
take a walk with your family, or just have dinner with them. Spend time with
them by spending time with them, not occupying the same room with them to be
distracted by, “Whoo hoo new building!” or checking what crops need to be
harvested in Farmville.
How can you
draw closer to the blood that you share in your home if you have no interest in
learning about them? We are noiseaholics and have allowed ourselves to become
fully taken in by the distractions of the world. You are strange when you say
that you don’t watch TV or don’t have Netflix. We must share the love of Christ
with others, but we also have to have the time to receive it ourselves. The
importance of being quiet and sitting with God and then being with other people
is without paramount.
How can we
Love God with all our heart and Love others as we love ourselves if we do not
take the time required to actually love them? I’m not talking about dedicating
more time to study of God’s word, but that helps. What I’m saying is for one
day, one night, one hour turn off all distractions and just be. Take a minute
or hour to be with God and then do the same with those around you. Loving
others requires interaction with others.
No matter
how successful you are, you can still find yourself lonely and alone even when
you are surrounded by people. No matter how poor you are, you can spend a little
time with the Lord or with another person to share the love that we all have
been given. Love doesn’t cost any amount of money and money can only complicate
it.
The greatest
gift that you can give your wife is love and affection. The greatest gift you
can give your husband is love and affection. The greatest gift you can receive from
God is Love. Love is all that God asks in return. Can Candy Crush love you?
Will Farmville teach you anything about God’s plan for us? Can WoW give us
peace, mercy and love? What is distracting you from being in love? What is
keeping you from peace today? Turn it off. God has a plan for every problem. No
matter how big the bug in your code, you won’t figure it out until you step
away from it. God’s there in that too.
One hour,
give it a try… at worst you just wasted an hour of the day, we do a lot more
than that flipping channels or on youtube watching cats do silly things. How
bad can it be to waste it on God?
“There are worse things
you can do to the people you love than kill them. The regular way is just to
watch the world do it. Just read the newspaper.” Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby
No comments:
Post a Comment