Chew the Cud

I’ve heard people try to justify not reading the Bible by stating that “the Bible never says you have to read it.” While it is true that the Bible never says “Thou shalt read the Bible,” one can’t help but wonder why a child of God would not want to read it. No love letter comes with the instruction to read it, but those who are in love cannot help but read it.

Psalm 1:1-2 shows us that a godly man will delight in the law of the Lord, which is God’s Word. The verse goes on to say that he will meditate on that law day and night. If you think about it, it would almost be easier if the Bible did tell us to read it for 5 minutes a day; that is easier than meditating day and night on it.

Meditating doesn’t mean that we cross our legs and chant. From the word meditate we get the word ruminate, which means “to chew the cud.” If you have ever looked at a cow you have most likely seen this process. Cows are almost constantly chewing the cud, largely in part because they have 4 stomachs. They have to regurgitate each bite 3 times, each time swallowing it to a different stomach before it is digested. They are meditating on each bite the way should meditate on each verse of Scripture.

We can’t meditate on it if we don’t read it, so let’s read God’s Word today, and chew the cud in our minds both day and night.