48 Ways to Meditate on Scripture

Need more ideas? I’ve compiled a list of 48 below, but there is no limit. Apply your creative interests to the Word of God to come up with your own unique approaches to biblical meditation.

If you’re thinking it looks like a list of craft projects and creative ventures, you’re right. Working on a craft project gives our minds time to think about the Bible passage as we decide the best approach for expressing it in our own way.

Artistic methods also build in the time we need to meditate and it feels so much more natural than staring at a page of Scripture and trying to maintain our focus. It also engages the kinesthetic principles of maintaining our focus by coupling it with a physical activity.

Consider which of these methods appeal to you.

1. Write a story.
2. Write an essay.
3. Draw a picture.
4. Make a collage.
5. Make a “ransom” note.
6. Create a scrapbook page.
7. Rubber stamp a Scripture card.
8. Make a bookmark.
9. Create a graphic design.
10. Make a video.
11. Sculpt with clay.
12. Take photos that capture the essence of the passage.
13. Tell the story from a different point of view.
14. Write the story in the first person.
15. Write the text in your own words.
16. Write it as a prayer.
17. Write a song.
18. Design a book cover for the text.
19. Write it like a newspaper story.
20. Write a news headline for the text.
21. Put the text in your art journal.
22. Use mixed media to convey the idea.
23. Express the emotion of the passage through sounds.
24. Express the emotion of the passage through scents.
25. Express the emotion of the passage through tastes.
26. Express the emotion of the passage through visuals.
27. Express the emotion of the passage through textures.
28. Use needlecrafts to express the text.
29. Do a physical act of obedience.
30. Write a skit.
31. Express the idea through dance.
32. Write out the passage and color-code key words.
33. Construct a diorama.
34. Create a shadowbox display.
35. Create the scene in miniatures.
36. Build the scene in Legos.
37. Make a crossword puzzle with clues from the text.
38. Create a word search using key words.
39. Write a poem.
40. Write a verse as haiku.
41. Cook a recipe that relates to the text.
42. Create a costume or mask of a character.
43. Record a dramatic reading of the text.
44. Record a dramatic re-telling of the text.
45. Make a poster.
46. Design a banner.
47. Draw a map of the place.
48. Creatively write Scripture all over your driveway with sidewalk chalk.

 

This is an excerpt from Sweeter Than Chocolate: Developing a Healthy Addiction to God’s Word. Used by permission.

 

Meditating on God’s Word: Write It

Journaling isn’t for everyone. I’m a writer and I don’t journal very often. At least I don’t often write in a journal that I keep for that purpose. However, I frequently write things out as a way of processing information. Afterwards I throw it away or hit delete.

Sometimes I struggle or grapple with what I’m learning and writing helps me think about it. Sometimes I’m just feeling introspective and use writing as a way to reflect on what I’m learning from the Bible.

Writing is another way of meditating on God’s Word and it can take a variety of forms. So don’t let the idea of journaling keep you away from the benefits of writing about what you learn.

If pages of handwritten text don’t appeal to you, you can keep a journal on your computer. Even blogging can be a form of journaling about what you learn and experience in God’s Word over time.

Maybe you’re more poetic. Writing poetry is a wonderful way to process what you learn from your study of the Bible.

Poetry makes it personal. It attaches significance and emotion to truth. It frames the truth in a beautiful way that allows you to examine it from different angles. Sometimes, poetry will simply punch you in the gut with the impact of the truth when seen in a new way or a new context that really gets inside you.

Haiku is very popular (especially on Twitter) and many people will meditate on a verse of the Bible by thinking about it until they can condense it down to a pithy poem: five syllables on the first line; seven syllables on the second line; and five syllables on the third line.

Haiku is a marvelous example of meditating on God’s Word because it captures the core meaning of a verse and paraphrases it in a concise and memorable way. It engages the mind in a way that makes the truth personal. If you are talented in this way (I’m not), then you are engaging the text beyond mere study and coming closer to experiencing it deeply and personally.

This is an excerpt from Sweeter Than Chocolate: Developing a Healthy Addiction to God’s Word. Used by permission.