Oh, Poppy!

I had started writing yesterday and it just wouldn't come together. Just didn't really "feel" anything to write about. Well, this evening Chase and Kasie went to the store and Dustin and I were watching Jake for just a bit. Jake loves his guitars - LOVES them. So Dustin got his out and started playing and Jake commenced to sangin'. He wrote this one all by himself. "Poppy, oh, poppy!" It was the cutest thing! (Video below!) He just sang to the top of his little lungs for about 2 minutes, mostly about his poppy. (Please overlook my lack of a bed skirt - we just got a new comforter and I haven't gotten a new one yet, we also rearranged the bedroom and still have some odd and ends stacked up until we get the nightstand figured out lol, and Dustin's in work jeans, hence the holey knees lol) Back to my story, it hit me as I listened to Jake sing. He sang what was on his heart. Anyone that's ever met Jake knows that he absolutely adores his poppy. I mean, adores him. Calls out to him in his sleep and melts down when he leaves. We all know Vince feels the same way just tries not to show it ;) So, when it came time to be creative and sing what was on his mind, in his heart, there was poppy. Shouldn't we be that way? Instead of only pouring out our sorrows and our worries, why can't we pour out our praise? If you're like me, it's because that's not what's on your heart. Raw honesty here. My worries, my cares, my frustrations - Those are on my heart. The things I don't understand, those are weighing heavy on my mind. So, chances are when I speak to my friends, my family, and even the Lord in prayer, that's what comes out first. Because that's what's on my heart. What if I actually made a point to set my mind, set my heart on the sheer goodness of God. Every time that hurt, that fear, that worry, that disappointment pops into my head what if I intentionally replace it with a, "Thank You, Jesus." Just like Ephesians 5:19 says, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;" Maybe if we'd start to meditate on His goodness we'd be singing from our heart, "Jesus! Oh, Jesus!" And not to mention, do you know how ridiculously happy it made his poppy to hear him sing his name?? Just think about that, you and Jesus. He loves to hear you say His name!

We hear the word meditate and we always think of crazy yoga poses, Buddha and that little "Hummmm" that always seems to resonate. But, meditating itself is not a bad thing. It's WHAT you meditate on that matters. I had never thought much about just meditating on the Lord. In my mind, time spent with the Lord meant locked away in my room, agonizing in prayer over different requests. And, I do believe that should be a part of our relationship with the Lord. In fact, I definitely think we don't agonize and take things seriously enough! But, that's another blog for another time. Anyway, in the story of Isaac and Rebekah the servant had been led to Rebekah and was bringing her back to become Isaac's wife. The Bible says, "And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming." Genesis 24:63 That verse may not seem like much, but wait until you hear the way Matthew Henry explains it in his commentary. I know it's lengthy, but it's worth the read. "Isaac was well employed when he met Rebekah: He went out to meditate, or pray, in the field, at the even-tide, Gen. 24:62, 63. Some think he expected the return of his servants about this time, and went out on purpose to meet them. But, it should seem, he went out on another errand, to take the advantage of a silent evening and a solitary field for meditation and prayer, those divine exercises by which we converse with God and our own hearts. Note, 1. Holy souls love retirement. It will do us good to be often left alone, walking alone and sitting alone; and, if we have the art of improving solitude, we shall find we are never less alone than when alone. 2. Meditation and prayer ought to be both our business and our delight when we are alone; while we have a God, a Christ, and a heaven, to acquaint ourselves with, and to secure our interest in, we need not want matter either for meditation or prayer, which, if they go together, will mutually befriend each other. 3. Our walks in the field are then truly pleasant when in them we apply ourselves to meditation and prayer. We there have a free and open prospect of the heavens above us and the earth around us, and the host and riches of both, by the view of which we should be led to the contemplation of the Maker and owner of all. 4. The exercises of devotion should be the refreshment and entertainment of the evening, to relieve us from the fatigue occasioned by the care and business of the day, and to prepare us for the repose and sleep of the night. 5. Merciful providences are then doubly comfortable when they find us well employed and in the way of our duty. Some think Isaac was now praying for good success in this affair that was depending, and meditating upon that which was proper to encourage his hope in God concerning it; and now, when he sets himself, as it were, upon his watch-tower, to see what God would answer him, as the prophet (Hab. 2:1), he sees the camels coming. Sometimes God sends in the mercy prayed for immediately," - See what I mean. Gave me a whole new understanding for meditating on the Lord. It's about fixing my mind on Him so that He can reveal even more of Who He is to me. In these next few moments, even these next few days, let's take time to meditate on the goodness of God, on His will and purpose for our lives, on His glory. Then when someone asks us about our life, asks us what's on our heart, nothing but Jesus will come out!

Paragraph taken from Matthew Henry's Commentary.

#Devotion #Jesus #Meditate