Thinking Too Hard???

Chewing the cud.

Many times I have been accused.....of thinking too hard. "Why do you think so much?" or "Stop thinking so hard," are the statements that I've heard too many times. One comment that especially hurt came from an older friend who realized that my thinking was affecting change in my behavior. When she remarked, "You really make it hard for yourself," I felt like she was condemning and belittling me. I sensed that she wanted to censure me.....from thinking.....from acting upon my thinking.....from stepping outside the box.....from just being me. 

I like to think.....to wonder.....to ponder.....to ask.....and to question. I like to look at nature, life, and Biblical concepts and then.....look deeper.....to connections, symbols, analogies and meanings. It's not hard for me. It's natural. It's who I am. It's how I was made, and it's what has been cultivated in me.  

Obviously, some sorts of thinking can lead to worry, and I confess that I have experienced the occasional restless sleep brought on by a brain that won't shut off. Worry, negative destructive thinking, and evil thoughts are indeed detrimental to relationships, emotions, health, and spiritual well-being. This is why the Father commands us not to worry or entertain evil or negative thinking. 


However, we are instructed many times over in the Psalms, and throughout the Bible, to meditate on things that are good, right, true, and lovely; values of the coming kingdom that bring goodness on earth and glory to God's name. Biblical meditation means to ponder, contemplate, and reflect on God, His works, His Word, His creation and His laws. Biblical meditation can be viewed as one examining and considering a subject from various angles, all the while looking intently through the lens of God's truth.   


Biblical meditation can graphically be compared to the process of an animal that chews its cud. Cows, goats and sheep are animals that chew their cud. After chewing a bite, moistening it, and swallowing it, these animals regurgitate and then ruminate by chewing on the partially digested food once again. God instructs us to "chew on" Scripture in this way, and to "bring it up" to talk about it and to teach it to our children throughout our day.

Chew, swallow, regurgitate, ruminate, digest.....Scripture!

In Acts 17:11, the Berean church set an example for believers to follow because of the way they "chewed on" and "ruminated" upon Scripture. They were labeled as "noble" because of their diligent study. When Paul and Silas brought their testimony that Yeshua, who suffered, died, and rose from the dead was the Messiah, the Bereans conducted a litmus test, comparing the new revelation to the former revelation that God had entrusted to them.  The Scriptures.....the Torah of Moses, the Prophets and the Writings.....were the foundation of truth to the Bereans. What the Bereans discovered was that the new testimony of Paul and Silas checked out as consistent and true with everything that God had previously revealed in His former testimony.....the "Old" Testament. 

Test all things.

When it comes to considering the Christian traditions that I have grown up with, I find it critical to apply the practices of the Bereans. When our practices, doctrines and interpretations don't line up with the Scriptures, I explore the reasons why. I observe. I question. I investigate.  Like stepping backward into a time machine, I search out historical origins, issues and practices, tracing the tradition to our observances of today. If the origins were unbiblical or pagan, I don't stop there. I make adjustments. I make changes. 

If we are going to call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, then we must do what he did and walk as he walked. What we do must be examined and tested according to the Scriptures. Our questioning may lead to needed change.  Change is hard, but we must do Bible things in Bible ways. 

Although we would be naive to assume that the Church, with its many factions, is all that it should be, we can be sure that the enemy of Messiah is ever-so-active, ever-so-sly, and ever-so-devious. He is out to infiltrate, kill, steal, destroy, and divide everything good and of God as inconspicuously as a sheep in wolf's clothing. So, let us be ever-on-the-lookout, because we are told to test all things.....like the Bereans.  

Think about it!