48 Ways to Meditate on Scripture

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fter publishing three Bible Explorer Guides in the past month, I found myself suffocating in my studies. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy having a semi-circle of reference books around me as I gather facts and information to discover the relevance of the biblical text. And I enjoy the challenge of finding ways to convey that relevance to you. But I don’t want to force-feed you facts about the Bible. You’ll spit it back in my face like a baby rejecting creamed peas. *blech* For the past few weeks, I have been missing time to meditate on God’s Word—to enjoy it and engage with it in a personal and casual way.

we stare at a passage of the Bible and think about it. That is oh-so-far from the truth! For example, I’ve made writing Bible stories a part of my personal meditation practice. It’s a way for me to look at the story from different perspectives, sometimes from the perspective of a different character. It allows me to see how I would feel if I were in the situation. When you put yourself in the text, it comes alive. It’s no longer dry, boring history; it’s a drama that remarkably resembles the drama of your own life.

You see, we have to engage God’s Word with both sides of our brain or we’ll probably reject it like creamed peas. *blech* Yes, we need the left brain to study, organize, and analyze the Bible. That’s how we learn the substance of God’s Word. But we also need to engage the right brain to meditate on God’s Word. Christian meditation is not weird, creepy spiritual exercises designed to empty our minds or our navels. Christian meditation is simply allowing our minds some breathing space to take the things we learned with the left brain and let them have time to dance and play in our head and heart. It allows the right brain to turn the truth over in our minds, looking at it from different angles. The problem is that we’re too busy and we often lack the focus to let our minds dwell on a passage of scripture for very long. Most of us think of meditation as a static activity in which

Christian meditation can take many forms. I’ve compiled a list of 48 below, but there is no limit. Apply your own creative interests to the Word of God and see what you come up with. If you’re thinking it looks like a list of craft projects and creative ventures, you’re right. Here’s the thing: while we are working on a craft project, it gives our minds time to think about the Bible passage, deciding the best way

to express it in our own way. It builds in the time we need to meditate and it feels so much more natural than staring at a page of scripture and trying to maintain our focus. It also engages the kinesthetic principles of maintaining our focus by coupling it with a physical activity. Consider which of these methods appeal to you. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27.

Write a story. Write an essay. Draw a picture. Paint a picture. Make a collage. Make a “ransom” note. Create a scrapbook page. Rubber stamp a scripture card. Make a bookmark. Create a graphic design. Make a video. Sculpt with clay (or PlayDoh!). Take photos that capture the essence of the passage. Tell the story from a different point of view. Write the story in first person. Write the text in your own words. Write it as a prayer. Write a song. Design a book cover for the text. Write it like a newspaper story. Write a news headline for the text. Put the text in your art journal. Use mixed media to convey the idea. Express the emotion of the passage through sounds. Express the emotion of the passage through scents. Express the emotion of the passage through tastes. Express the emotion of the passage through visuals.

28. Express the emotion of the passage through textures. 29. Use needlecrafts to express the text. 30. Do a physical act of obedience. 31. Write a skit. 32. Express the idea through dance. 33. Write out the passage and color-code key words. 34. Construct a diorama. 35. Create a shadowbox display. 36. Create the scene in miniatures. 37. Build the scene in Legos. 38. Make a crossword puzzle with clues from the text. 39. Create a word search using key words. 40. Write a poem. 41. Write a verse as haiku. 42. Cook a recipe that relates to the text. 43. Create a costume or mask of a character. 44. Record a dramatic reading of the text. 45. Record a dramatic re-telling of the text. 46. Make a poster. 47. Design a banner. 48. Draw a map of the place.

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