Meditation: More Insight, Not More Input
Have you ever read your Bible for half an hour, walked away, and remembered nothing?
I have.
It’s the same feeling a kid gets when his parent asks, “What did you learn in school today?” and he answers, “Uh…nothing. I don’t remember anything.”
Turns out, both of those incidents are related.
And the goal of the coming posts is to help us move past that struggle.
What’s the Solution?
As Donald Whitney wrote,
“…the problem has more to do with the method of engaging God’s Word than anything else. For if you merely read the Bible, don’t be surprised if you forget most—if not all—of what you’ve read.
What’s the simple solution? …The solution is not only to read the Scriptures, but to meditate on them.”
Whitney defined meditation succinctly in his book, Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life:
“Meditation [is the] deep thinking on truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purpose of understanding, application, and prayer.”
We’ve covered fifteen rock-solid reasons to meditate on God’s Word.
Now let’s start moving toward what it means to meditate and how is it done.
How Does the Brain Learn and Remember?
Real learning only happens when the mind is actively engaged in sorting out, processing, and connecting the new information to previously known information.
How does the mind connect the new and the old?
By seeing patterns (concepts).
According to Dr. Kevin Washburn,
“The brain seeks and sees patterns. Patterns, or concepts, aid both memory storage and retrieval. Patterns empower authentic learning.”
When you take in new information and have an “Ah-ha!” moment after reflecting on the new and connecting it with the rest of the puzzle of previously known information, then you’ve learned something you can retain. You’ve seen a pattern in the new that connects with a pattern in the old. The brain learns by connecting. Your brain latches the two together. It sticks.
The takeaway from Dr. Washburn is that in order to retain more of what you read, the key is spending time engaging your mind to process the information and look for patterns. We’ll get into the specifics of patterns/concepts in another post.
The Bottom Line: Another Tidal Wave of Information Won’t Help You Learn
The need is not for additional information but rather for time spent processing the information so that it is understood and learned.
That’s why we need meditation. We need the intentional reflection on what we’ve read. We need to give our minds time to take hold of what we’ve read.
We do not need another tidal wave of information. We need to give our hearts time to sink roots deep into the river bank and absorb the water.
The Palm 1 Model
Look at Psalm 1:1-3 as an illustration of absorbing the Word by mediating on it:
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The tree can only absorb so much water at a time. We can only absorb so much of the Bible at a time.
Insight is Gained by Meditation, Not More Input
The key is not to find a bigger river. The key is to keep your roots in the water continually. The key is not to flood your brain with more information, but to spend time meditating, absorbing the Word.
Some may object and say, “Christians need to read their Bibles more, not less.” Which is completely true. We can’t get enough.
However, apart from more meditation, more reading has diminishing value.
In order to keep from being a mile wide and an inch deep, we need more insight, not more input. Insight is gained by meditation.
Next up: How to Meditate
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Related posts:
- Meditation: Modeling the 3-Step Process
- How To Meditate: 3 Steps of Aggressive Mental Engagement
- How To Meditate: Series Recap
Good thoughts, Daniel. I’ve certainly learned from taking lots of classes and doing lots of reading, that more material doesn’t accomplish anything when you don’t take the time to ponder and absorb. Looking forward to more of your ideas on this…
Very good post. Our religious activities can be destructive if not grounded in the Gospel. The point isn’t to get through Scripture, the point is for Scripture to get through you.
“The point isn’t to get through Scripture, the point is for Scripture to get through you.” – I like that!
I will be using this in my message I will be preaching Sunday after Christmas. Because we start off New Years with this crazy idea that we’re going to “get it right,” so we commit ourselves to more Bible reading (notice I didn’t say “study”), we commit to more church attendance, just for the sake of “getting it right.” When this happens we make it religious, which becomes destructive to our understanding of the Gospel.
As far as reading the Bible just for the sake of getting through it, or being the “smart” person, I am going to tell the church to “Stop it!” May the grace of God be with me.
Yeah, classes do pile on the material. Makes the breaks all the more pleasant, doesn’t it?
Sunday after Christmas? I’ll put you on my calendar to pray for you if you’ll send me a manuscript.
Ok I just put you on my calendar. Now you do your part.
Guess I can’t reply once so many comments are on one thread.
Regarding the manuscript: once I’m finished with it you are welcome to it if you really want it.
BTW, thanks a ton for the prayer.
Yeah, I used to have the comment thread limit set high, but then each new comment gets so small.
Yes, I really want it. I’d like to see where you run with the topic.
No problem!
[...] We need insight, not another tsunami of information. [...]