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.

Psalm 1:1-3 (ESV)

The Psalmist encourages us to prioritise God and His Word above all else. He says God bestows a blessing on those who meditate on Him in their hearts from dusk to dawn. This intentional awareness of God leads us away from sin and towards salvation.

Biblical meditation does not aim to empty the mind, but rather to enrich it with God's truth. Meditation brings you to the point when the written word becomes the living word within you. It takes you eventually to an experience of being united with Christ, going beyond the surface into the depths of our hearts.

Meditation nourishes and renews you spiritually. A daily filling of God’s Word fuels your faith for a fruitful life. We must be like the tree depicted in Psalm 1. It continues to grow and bear fruit by anchoring itself in good soil and clean water. Ad we draw life from God’s Word that guarantees favour and fruitfulness, we will have His life within us to help us grow in ever-increasing obedience and faithfulness.

Many of us overlook our time with God while spending time serving Him.

We can be good producers of holiness and spirituality but poor consumers ourselves. When we measure the success of our ministry by the size of our churches and ministries or the degree of our influence on people’s lives, we always need to add more goals or devise a grander plan and so on. We obviously want to be fruitful for the Lord, but not at the expense of jeopardising our relationship with Him. We will suffer from stress and burnout if we allow it to happen because we have made what we do more important than who we are in Christ.

The tree planted by the waters is a picture of abiding rest in Christ. And the fruit of our constant abiding in Christ is a productive life. To put it another way, effective ministry results from being with God rather than doing for God. Ministry is not about being busy, but about allowing Christ to work through you to bear fruit. When we genuinely grasp this truth, our lives and ministries will be transformed from a display of our works to a demonstration of God's work in us.