One of the five pillars of Islam is the requirement to pray five times a day. The Muslims begin early in the morning, and then at the prescribed times during the day, they bow their faces to the ground and pray to Allah. Their faithfulness to their prayers is admirable – they do it every day.
Often, those involved in what we would consider false religions put us to shame by their diligence, boldness, and faithfulness. As born-again Christians, we believe that we have the truth concerning God and the means of salvation. Yet, we are often hesitant to witness, and we go days on end without Bible study and prayer.
In Psalm 1:2, God exhorts us to be more consistent in our pursuit of Him through His Word. He says, “Blessed is the man…whose delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” You see, God wants us to develop a faithful pattern of meditation on His Word.
The phrase, “day and night” is a Hebrew idiom that means “all of the time.” This is not a specific instruction to do it once during the day and then again at night. Rather, it means that God wants us to be thinking about His Word all of the time, throughout the day as well as during the evening hours. Now this doesn’t mean that you have to carry your Bible with you at all times. But it does mean that the truth of God is embedded in your mind through consistent Bible study, and that you are thinking about those truths as you make decisions and live your life.
Throughout my life, Bible study has been a great help to me. In doing this over the years, I have memorized hundreds of verses so that during the day I can think about them; or as I pray, I can talk with God about them; or if I lie awake at night, I can meditate on these verses. I can tell you – it has been one of life’s greatest blessings. Blessed is the man who meditates on the Word of God day and night.
Now you know the real meaning of the word.
Remember – meditating on God’s Word day and night isn’t an obligation. It’s a privilege!