Sparkling Like a Fountain
Sigmund Freud gave this description of the conscious and subconscious mind. (Disclaimer: this is by no means an endorsement of all of Freud’s work. However, if you find a diamond in a pigpen, it is still a diamond.)
“The conscious mind may be compared to a fountain playing in the sun and falling back into the great subterranean pool of subconscious from which it rises.”
Autosuggestion is the process of feeding the subconscious mind on thoughts. Constructive new and better ones produce higher ideals and better motives.
All that is modern speak of what the Bible means by meditation. There are several ways to meditate. Remember your object is to let your mind become absorbed with a specific text, topic, or subject. If you do not have the Scripture memorized, read it a couple of times, close your eyes and begin to repeat it over and over in your thoughts, Think about it and how it applies to you. This involves thinking deeply, pondering, and reflecting on the subject. That is good, very good, and though taught in scripture is not practiced by many Christians.
Meditation, autosuggestion, is the mind sending messages to the subconscious until the subconscious begins to send these messages to the body, and they become reflexive. When they become the standards of conduct they have not only been received, but agreed with. Habit is the body’s way of saying, “I got the message.”
When the Bible mentions meditation, it often mentions obedience in the next breath. An example is the Book of Joshua: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.”
The Book of Psalm opens with this concise commentary of meditation. “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.” (Psalm 1: 1 – 6)
Make certain those thoughts of the conscious mind cascade into the subterranean pool of your subconscious that you may develop new Bible based habits.
Consider making this resolution. “I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways.” (Psalm 119: 15)