Ponder this...

How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them. Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails. (Psalm 111:2-3)

The instruction given is to PONDER God's deeds. Whenever we choose to ponder God's work around us, within us, and even through us, we are actually taking notice of his glory and majesty. The deeds of the Lord are so vast that even if we were to take an entire day just 'pondering' him and his work around us, we still couldn't stop 'pondering' because we couldn't account for all of them.

Pondering is when we are exercising careful thought. It isn't just a casual 'moment' - it is purposeful, requiring all our attention. It is often what we don't do before making decisions so many times, but what would have served us well if we had! If we take the time to ponder God's direction first, we might make wiser choices from the get-go. It is often the times of considering how Christ acted, what he did while on this earth, how he treated others, and who he sought direction from that reveals to us the direction God would have us to take.

God-directed lives have adopted this concept of 'pondering' as a means of getting to know God better, but also as a way of sensing his direction for their lives. The very next verse in this passage asks, "who can forget the wonders he performs" because when we actually take the time to 'notice' God's actions on our behalf, we might just find a few of those 'wonders' in our own lives right this very moment. 

The Lord has been so very gracious and kind toward each of us. From giving us the time and space to come to know him, seeking his forgiveness, and asking him into our lives, to the discovery of every tidbit of truth he wants to make alive within us, he is gracious. He is at work - where he works, wonderful things are produced. Just sayin!

What quarry are you dug from?

There is a pretty familiar question which we hear many times a week, if not everyday:  "Are you serious?"  Whenever someone poses this question, they may not really be seeking the truth about your level of trustworthiness or your desire to commit to something.  In fact, they might just be saying this to exclaim some message of surprise - like they could not possibly imagine what we just did or said as even remotely possible!  There is another saying:  "Let's get serious now."  This one is often spoken as a word or two of admonishment  designed to get us focused (refocused) on what is at hand.  


Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living and committed to seeking God.  Ponder the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were dug.  (Isaiah 51:1 The Message)


When you are serious about something, there is a process which occurs.  First, there is conscious thought - you focus your capacity for understanding and processing on the subject or task at hand.  Second, you have determined the subject or task to be weighty enough to require your attention and time.  In turn, you make a determination to undertake it with earnestness.


Isaiah is speaking to Israel in his words of prophecy, but there are always tidbits of truth for us in each message.  Today, I'd like us to take a moment to think about the things we take seriously in life.  Could you indulge me for a moment?  If you have paper and pen, take a moment to make two columns.  On the left, put a title at the top "Serious About" - on the right, put a title "Not So Much".  Now, as you go throughout your day, will you take a moment here and there to write down the things you are really serious about - those things you give your capacity of thought to, which you have determined to be weighty enough to require your focused attention, and those you have some sense of earnestness in seeing completed.


I usually undertake this "exercise" on a pretty regular basis.  Why?  Simply because I have a tendency to allow things to drift into my realm of thought and attention which really are demanding too much of my attention and time! As I refocus on what it is I am serious about - I often see my list can be a little too self-focused (taking time and giving attention to what will satisfy my needs rather than the needs of those God places in my life).  Now, this may not be the case with you, but it could very well be.  If so, putting this down on paper actually helps us to recognize the things which are consuming our time and even consuming "us".  


Look at what Isaiah said:  If you are serious about RIGHT living and committed to SEEKING God....ponder....


Hmmm....now do you see the connection between what Isaiah advises and my little exercise?  Yep, as you took time to write those things out in one or the other column, you were "pondering" what it is you are committed to - what you (or others who have influence in your life) have determined to be worthy of your thought and attention.  You can think of pondering as a kind of "chewing upon" exercise.  You kind of keep pouring over and over the list until you begin to see how each of the things listed is really affecting your relationships with God or each other, and even balance in your life.  There is much to be gained by taking time to ponder.


Isaiah was speaking to a nation of "believers" who had taken their eye off of the things which were most important.  In fact, they find themselves driven into servitude to nations around them and living under the burden of being "slaves" to another.  God's intention was for them to live free - unburdened.  How did they get to this point?  Maybe if someone had asked, "Are you serious?" a little earlier, they might not have drifted this far!  I don't know about you, but as hard as it is to hear an accountability partner ask me the tough questions, I appreciate their words!  It is often exactly what I need in order to refocus!


Some advice from our passage:


- Ponder the rock from which you were cut.  Are you familiar with the passage from I Peter 2:5 which refers to us as living stones?  When we actually take time to consider the rock from which we are cut, we are considering the things which make our "cornerstone" so reliable.  His love, grace, and forgiveness.  His truthfulness, commitment, and transparency.  In turn, we begin to emulate the "stone" from which we were taken - we begin to look and act like Christ.


- Ponder the quarry from which you were dug.  I live close enough to some of the copper mines in Arizona to know what a mine looks like.  I also have been to the quarries from which granite is taken.  Having this experience allows me to recognize some things about a quarry.  First, it is a pretty dirty place.  There is a whole lot of "turning over" of soil until you find the thing you desire most.  God has taken us from a whole lot of "dirt".  Second, once the copper is removed or the granite cut, it is a thing of beauty and function.  We are not dug from the quarry of sin to just "exist" - but to be a thing of beauty and function in the kingdom of God.


So, ponder with me today.  You might be surprised what it is you discover about yourself - and God!

Bite-sized morsels

I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you've done it.  I relish everything you've told me of life, I won't forget a word of it.

(Psalm 119:15-16 The Message)

Are you a "ponder-er"?  If you are one who turns things over and over until you get a better understanding of the object you are considering, then you are a "ponder-er".  To ponder means that you consider something deeply and thoroughly.  It involves the mind, but it also relies on the involvement of the emotions in the process.  It comes from a Latin word that means to "weigh".  Some of us might say that we are "reflecting" on an idea - we are simply pondering that idea (weighing the pros and cons).

David tells us that he has become a "ponder-er" of God's wisdom - that which comes from his Word.  He has learned to "put to the test" the ideas he has running through his mind, those things that are affecting his emotions, by "weighing" them against God's Word.  There is no better "scale" to measure our ideas against!  

Part of pondering is the idea of directing our attention toward whatever it is we are considering.  There is focus - not just haphazard consideration - but determined attention toward the object of our reflection.  David has the most important thing to him is the "using" of the counsel God gives to make decisions about his life.  It is more important to him to "use" what God gives than to have all the riches in the world.

I wonder if that is the respect we have for the counsel of God.  Is it a standard by which we "ponder" on life's decisions?  To David, the Word had become the standard by which he made decisions.  It is the process of "pondering" that actually brings us to a place where we "learn" the Word.  This allows us to have the Word available when we need it - not forgetting it.  

David is very clear - God's Word is not taken into our minds in huge quantities.  It is pondered by the "morsels".  A morsel is a small bit - some call it a tidbit.  It is like a bite-sized candy bar - just enough to give you a taste, but not enough to send you into a diabetic coma!  God's Word is "bite-sized".  We take it in one morsel at a time - pondering the morsel until we find deep satisfaction in it.  That is how it begins to be something we come to relish.

When we relish something, we have developed a "taste" for it.  Many don't have a well-developed "taste" for God's Word.  Perhaps this is because when it is mixed with so many other things we "take in" right along with it, we don't get a full appreciation of the "taste"!  I like coffee.  My daughter likes creamer.   I like a little creamer in my coffee.  My daughter likes a little coffee in her creamer.  We have each developed a different "taste" for coffee.  Does the coffee change?  No, just our appreciation for the taste of that which is produced by either the focus on the coffee or the creamer!

We need to develop our ability to ponder.  Pondering is not easy because we have so many distractions.  We also need to develop our habits of "intake".  We often consume in quantities that are not easily digested - God desires that we take his Word in bite-sized morsels.  In the morsels, we develop a "taste" for his Word - an appreciation of the hidden truths deep within.

So, ponder with me today.  Enjoy the morsels God gives.  Develop a taste for the good things God reveals in his Word.  Great delight is found not in the consuming of the Word, but in the pondering of its taste!