From Sanctuary of the Soul: Journey into Meditative Prayer by Richard Foster:
“This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it” (Joshua 1:8).
This passage from Joshua underscores a central element of the biblical view of meditation: obedience. This is in marked contrast to the various forms of meditation in many religions around the world. The biblical stress is always on ethical change, character transformation, obedience to the Word of the Lord . . .
This is why I constantly seek to define Christian mediation in terms of “hearing and obeying.” Always this double emphasis. On the the one hand we are called to silence, to stillness, to quieting “creaturely activity,” as the old writers often put it. On the other hand we are called to action, to right behavior, to obedience to the will of God. Hearing and obeying.
