"Meditate on these things"

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body... Is not life more than food...? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?... Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’... For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things..."

-Taken from Matthew 6:25-34

I'm fairly positive that I've already written a post on this particular passage, but it has been something so heavy on my heart these past few days. It's something that I struggle very much with and have to make a daily effort to exercise in my life.

Many of you know Philippians 4:8 by heart, and I even catch myself reciting it over and over again in my mind...

"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."

I love the way the NKJV uses the term "meditate".

MED·I·TATE

1 : to engage in contemplation or reflection

2 : to engage in mental exercise (as concentration on one's breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness

-Merriam Webster's definition

Imagine the power this could have in our lives, in our attitudes, in our work forces, our ministries, our teams, our churches. Instead of dwelling on money, school, relationships, work, and the day-to-day stresses of life, we, in fact, meditated on "these things" that Paul was talking about. This could be revolutionary. I mean, look at the effect that it had in Paul's own life... not to mention all of the lives that he touched and churches he inspired!

Honestly, what good is worry? Worry is not proactivity, nor productivity. You know what is? Trust, hope, and a bright attitude.