What's in your CROCK POT?

Scripture:

Psalm 1:1-6 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; (2) but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (3) 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. (4) The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. (5) Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; (6) for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Observation:

You can learn how to follow God by meditating on his Word. This means spending time reading and thinking about what you have read. It means asking yourself how you should change so you will live as God wants. Knowing and thinking about God's Word are the first steps toward applying it to your everyday life. If you want to follow God more closely, you must know what he says.

This "law" means all of Scripture: the first five books of Moses, the Prophets, and the other writings. The more we know of the whole scope of God's Word, the more resources we will have to guide us in our daily decisions.

The people God blesses not only read the Word daily, but they study it, memorize it, and meditate on it during the day and night. Their mind is controlled by the Word of God. Because of this, they are led by the Spirit and walk in the Spirit. Meditation is to the soul what "digestion" is to the body. It means understanding the Word, "chewing on it," and applying it to our lives, making it a part of the inner person.

The nutritious benefit of food doesn't come in the "chewing" only. After chewing, I must then digest. To digest, I must swallow it, then the digestion begins to take place. It wouldn't be very beneficial if I chewed up my food then spit it out. In our habits with God's Word, if we just read our chapter "quota" for the day, that is chewing the Word. But if you do not deposit it into your mind, you are just spitting out what you chewed up. The benefit to your spiritually is then very minimal.

Application:

Very often, on Saturday nights, I will put a pot roast into our crock pot at home. I will brown the roast, put water, onion, different seasonings into the crock pot, then add the pot roast. It cooks all night long. Every single time, I will wake up early and get hungry because of the aroma that is filling my house as the crock pot does its job. I will get up, dress for church, and as I am preaching I begin to smell my pot roast. Why? Because the aroma has attached itself to my suit. So I preach hungry because of the constant aroma. That aroma affects my morning, my church going, my preaching, and after we eat the roast, the residual aroma is with us the next day. What I put in my crock pot ends up affecting my life for a couple of days.

My friends, that is really what meditating on God's Word is. Putting a Word from God into your mental, spiritual crock pot. You read God's Word, a verse jumps off of the page at you (Rhema Word) you read it again, and again. You think on it, you pray it out loud, you memorize it. Then throughout the day you are affected by the "aroma" that is coming from your spiritual crock pot. When you are talking with someone, you can't get away from that aroma that is percolating in your crock pot. You face a trial, but right as you are about to panic, you smell that aroma, you remember that Rhema Word that was deposited into your Spirit, and you are lead, affected, and blessed by that Word.

Every single day, when you are reading God's Word, you should not walk away from God's table until you have placed a Rhema Word in your crock pot that you come back to all day long. You think about it at night. The effects of it goes with you through the day and into the night. The aroma fills your home. It effects the way you talk to your family. It effects your attitude. Our text says that when you do this, you are blessed and like a tree planted by a stream of water that will bear much fruit! Wow, what a promise.

So, please read the Word, chew it up, but don't spit it out as soon as you have chewed it up. Don't forget about what you have read. Dwell on it (Crock pot), and let it effect your day today. Make sure you get something from God this morning in your Bible reading that will go with you all day. If someone asks you "What is God saying to you?" you should be able to immediately describe to them what you have in your spiritual "Crock Pot" today. You will be amazed at how much the Word interacts with you throughout the day!

Prayer:

"Lord, I am so thankful for Your Word. Thank You for giving me this analogy of the crock pot. Too often I read the Word, then symbolically spit it out after chewing it up (reading) and receive no spiritual nutrition from it. Today, I will place this Word in the crock pot of my mind, I will come back to it several times this day, and I know the Holy Spirit will bring it back to my thoughts several times this morning, afternoon, evening and in the middle of the night. Thank You for this truth! In Jesus' name, amen!"