Focus on Scripture, Not Worries

The Bible repeatedly urges us to meditate on who God is, what He has done, and what He has said.

It is impossible to be God’s friend apart from knowing what He says. You can’t love God unless you know Him, and you can’t know Him without knowing His Word. The Bible says God “revealed himself to Samuel through His word” (1 Samuel 3:21 NIV).

God still uses that method today. While you cannot spend all day studying the Bible, you can think about it throughout the day, recalling verses you have read or memorized and mulling them over in your mind.

Meditation is often misunderstood as some difficult, mysterious ritual practiced by isolated monks and mystics. But meditation is simply focused thinking — a skill anyone can learn and use anywhere.

When you think about a problem over and over in your mind, that’s called worry. When you think about God’s Word over and over, that’s meditation. If you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate! You just need to switch your attention from your problems to Bible verses. The more you meditate on God’s Word, the less you will have to worry about.

The reason God considered Job and David his close friends was that they valued his Word above everything else, and they thought about it continually throughout the day. Job admitted, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread” (Job 23:12).

When you read your Bible or hear a sermon or listen to a CD, don’t just forget it and walk away. Develop the practice of reviewing the truth in your mind, thinking about it over and over. The more time you spend reviewing what God has said, the more you will understand the “secrets” of this life that most people miss.