Good morning! It is feeling cold on my end so I am hoping it is a bit warmer wherever you are at right now. Every time I think about the weather and the contrast between hot and cold, Katy Perry's song Hot N Cold song comes to mind. I do hope you are doing well because community check in on each other, so in the comments below let me know what is the state of your heart and the temperature of your current location. This morning I want to take a few minutes and discuss the difference between meditation and devotion, and breakdown what meditation is.
I would like to believe that everyone knows what devotion means, but in case you do not, I will go to Google define it and be right back. Devotion means "love, loyalty or enthusiasm for a person, activity or a cause" and in most situations the person we are devoted to is ourselves, the cause is bettering ourselves. A lot of the time people confuse the words meditation and devotion together just like I did here. Meditation is "the action or practises of meditating". I dislike definitions like that because if I'm defining meditate, get a hint I do not know what meditating means. So, here are some synonyms for meditation; thought, contemplate, ponder or think. So for those of us who do a morning meditation, we are simply taking time to ponder.
What exactly are we pondering about? Well, there are many components to our life, we have the social, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and physical. Each of these components needs catering to just like how we exercise, shower and eat to take care of the physical side of ourselves we can take a moment to reflect on how we are feeling in each aspect. We are pondering on how we can be better, how we can appreciate the season we are in now and how can we be more effective in the upcoming 24 hours in all the aspects listed previously.
Why do we meditate? As humans, we need time to take in everything that occurred and process it. Checking in on ourselves once in a while helps us to live that healthy wholesome life that we were meant to live. For Christians, we believe that Jesus is the only person, that can make us a better person so when we meditate we are doing a spiritual meditation that touches on every aspect that was listed above. We get into the Word and in His presence to get the strength "motivation" to live life right. If you have ever taken a picture with a camera that has focus abilities you will notice that sometimes you have to refocus the lens so it can take a great picture. It's the exact same for our morning devotions, we refocus our mind on Jesus so we can live that great life we are called to.
How do we meditate? When I meditate on the Word I like to start off with a plan so I am not all over the place because that can make me lose motivation. My plan starts with calming music so I can wake up and be focused. I will then read a chapter from the bible so I have something to focus on because girl my mind can get lost and end up in Narnia with. Following the reading, I try my best to write some notes on it and if it did not trigger any thoughts in me then I write about what word grabbed my attention and why. I then end it with a prayer.
How long do we meditate for and when? Honestly, it depends on you. I have days where I meditate for an hour or I do just 30 minutes. If you cannot focus or afford an hour then do something that works for you. I meditate in the morning so I can start on the right note and I have a small meditating routine I do before going to be so I don't dream about weird things or wake up in a foul mood. The ultimate truth is, if I don't do it in the morning I will never do it. I am incapable right now of doing a devotion during the day because I get busy or I'm too distracted by shows and other entertainments. So whenever you can find time alone to focus is the best time to do so.
It took me a while to get into the habit of waking up early and meditating on the Word before starting my day and even then I do not do it every day. I believe it is an important step in our Christian walk, taking the time to build that friendship with God outside of the church and your normal Christian rituals. Simply taking time to be with His is important and it shows how devoted you are to Him. As usual, I am down to hear what you have to say so head down to the comments, leave me a message and I'll get back to you. Till next time!
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