When it comes to the Bible, we often think in terms of two levels, reading and studying.

And both of those approaches to Scripture are good and important.

However, there's a third approach to engaging with God's word that is in many ways most important,

meditating on it.

In our interview today, I'm talking with David Mathis about this foundational, yet often

neglected spiritual discipline, and why it's something that has the power to lead us to

renewed excitement, joy, and satisfaction when it comes to God's word.

David serves as senior teacher and executive editor at desiring god.org, as a pastor at City's Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, and as an adjunct professor at Bethlehem College and Seminary.

He's also the author of Habits of Grace and Join Jesus Through the Spiritual Disciplines from Crossway.

Let's get started.

Thank you. disciplines from Crossway. Let's get started. Well, David, thank you so much for joining me today on the Crossway podcast.

Matt, it's great to be talking to you and be sitting in the same room. Usually it's by

a distance, but now we're here in the same space. It is. It is really nice. So today we're going to talk

about Bible meditation. And as Christians, we talk a lot about reading the Bible. We talk a lot

about studying the Bible, but we don't really talk as much about meditating on the Bible. We don't

maybe think of it as a distinct thing that is worth discussing on its own merits.

And in your book, you use this helpful analogy of watching a movie to kind of illustrate

the difference between all these approaches to scripture.

So I wonder if you could explain that metaphor and help us understand meditation.

And I love talking about the differences between reading, studying, meditating, where reading would be just like going at the normal speed of the medium.

So it's like you push play on the movie, you're watching it at its normal speed.

To study it then might be to go in slow motion or to try to make connections.

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