Enemies of Meditation

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

We are always watchful because our enemies — the world, the flesh, and the devi — are always working against us.

Keeping us from spending time with God is their chief goal.

Psalm 1:1–3 “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.”

What is true in the positive of this Psalm is also true if you turn it around. If we don’t meditate on God’s Word, we will not be blessed. We will find ourselves in the way of sinners, the seat of scoffers, and with the counsel of the wicked.

Enemy #1 — “It’s too difficult.”

Not making time for it. Just too lazy to do it.

Proverbs 6:9–11 “How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.”

1 Timothy 4:15 “Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.”

Enemy #2 — “I’m not gifted in that way.”

God has gifted everyone to be able to understand Scripture through the Holy Spirit.

Ecclesiastes 10:10 “If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed.”

Our walk is more difficult when we choose to walk around with a dull mind instead of a sharp one.

While everyone is gifted in unique ways, we are not exempt from doing all that God calls us to do. An evangelist may share the Gospel with more people than you, but that does not exempt you from sharing the Gospel with someone.

Enemy #3 — “I’m too busy.”

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

If you are too busy, then you have mismanaged your time. You have to make time for God first and everything else second.

Ephesians 5:15–16 “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”

We need to busy ourselves with God’s Word and find ourselves too busy to do other things.

Enemy #4 — “I’m too distracted.”

We have been conditioned to be distracted.

The average attention span is 8 seconds.

Studying God’s Word and meditating on what God wants us to hear from Him is a discipline. It’s definitely a discipline for me.

1 Timothy 4:7 “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;”

The Bible is full of words like “train”, “grow”, “work”, etc… it’s not going to be easy.

And we need to try to set ourselves up for success. Turn off the phone. Put it in another room. DON’T USE IT FOR YOUR DEVOTION TIME.

Enemy #5 — “It’s uncomfortable.”

Psalm 32:5 “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah”

When we sit in silence with God, we are going to feel the weight of our sin and our failures.

Some of this is good. There is sin that you need to deal with. And you will never deal with it if you keep the noise going non-stop. You have to sit alone with God and let you heart’s broken cry begin to be heard.

Some of this is not good. Sometimes when we are by ourselves, the flesh will remind us of past forgiven sin to make us feel like God doesn’t really want to talk to us. But that is when we need to listen to the Holy Spirit who reminds us that we have been forgiven and our sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west.

Enemy #6 — “I don’t need to meditate.”

Jeremiah 2:13 “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

People are satisfied with the things of this world and therefore have no hunger for the things of God.

James 4:4 “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

You cannot befriend the things of this world.

Enemy #7 — “I don’t want to lose my friends.”

Some have ungodly influences in their lives.

Proverbs 13:20 “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

You need people in your life who will encourage you to love and follow God, not the opposite. If you are ashamed of who you are in Christ when you are around a particular group of people, then those people do not need to be your friends.

We need to keep ourselves free from the influence of unbelievers.

Make a plan. Setup boundaries. Guard your time with God at all costs.