On What Do You Meditate?

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. Philippians 4:8 


Recently my 10 month old son had a high fever.  It was a terrible experience and he cried in discomfort.  His fever remained high for 3 days. When it finally subsided and I was relieved; he still was not happy.  He continued to cry and I could not figure out what was wrong.  So, thinking I must be missing something, I took him back to the doctor.  Everything checked out.  He was on the mend.  So why was he still crying?  The doctor told me I would have work over the next few days to reinforce positive behaviors and get him back on task of expressing his needs without crying.  


Simply put, he was stuck in miserable mode. 


I can relate to being stuck in miserable mode. In fact, it is easy to remain focused on the bad in our lives and forget the many good things right in front of us.  


We don't want to look at what is positive.  


We want to wallow and sulk because sometimes we just feel entitled.  Sometimes we forget how to switch gears.  And, once we are down, it is hard to get back up and even harder to do it on our own.


In Philippians, Paul instructs the church at Philippi to meditate.  Now this is a word that almost all of us will accept in today's time.  It means to train the mind to be in a mode of consciousness in order to realize a benefit. 


What if we were to train our minds to focus on the list Paul has given?  


What if we meditated on what is true, noble, just, pure, lovely and worthy of praise?  


What would be the benefits?