We have read the Word, interpreted it, and faced our sins before God in repentance. Now, we must bloom the climax, the very ‘flower’ of meditation. It is ‘Application.’
Someone once said, “Meditation without application is like a corpse.” No matter how deep the realization or how hot the tears, if it does not move my hands and feet, that meditation has lost its life. If meditation has descended from the head to the heart, it must now flow from the heart to the hands and feet.
1. Resolution is the Direction, Application is the Footstep
We often confuse ‘Resolution’ with ‘Application.’ Resolution is an attitude of the heart and a setting of direction. However, application is the specific first step taken in that direction.
Resolution is abstract. But application must be extremely practical. After meditating, you must ask yourself this question: “So, what will I do right now?”
- Resolution: ‘I will love my neighbor.’ (Abstract)
- Application: ‘During lunch today, I will go to that awkward colleague and buy him a cup of coffee.’ (Concrete)
Anyone can make a promise to love. However, the act of buying coffee is only possible when there is the ‘reality’ of swallowing your pride and opening your wallet.
2. Instead of Grand Changes, Choose ‘Small Obedience Today’
The thing to watch out for most when applying is ‘spiritual over-enthusiasm.’ God does not want us to become Superman overnight. He rejoices more in small acts of obedience that we can keep, rather than grand promises we cannot keep.
You must start gradually with what is possible. If you are greedy, you will quickly burn out and fall away.
- Application of Prayer: If someone who never prayed suddenly decides, “I will pray for an hour every dawn,” they will likely taste failure within a few days. It is much better to apply, “I will put down my smartphone 5 minutes before sleep and offer a prayer of gratitude for the day.”
- Application of Evangelism: If you decide, “I will preach the gospel to my unbelieving friend,” and suddenly call a friend you haven’t contacted in 10 years to scream “Believe in Jesus!”, how would that look? It could be rude. “Sending a text message to say hello and open the door to the relationship” is the correct application.
3. Application is ‘Pain that Cuts to the Bone’ and the ‘Fruit of Grace’
Sometimes, application comes with pain that cuts to the bone. The Bible tells me to “Love your enemies,” but my emotions still cannot forgive them. It says to “Be honest,” but being honest might put me in a situation where I face immediate loss.
How can I love someone I hate to death, and how can I preach the gospel while enduring loss? I might fail. I might stumble. Because I am originally just a weak and selfish sinner.
That is why application is impossible with my will alone. Even in the stage of application, we must thoroughly seek God’s grace. Confessing that I cannot even move my hands and feet without His grace, and changing just one tiny part of my life today through the Word. That is the moment when meditation is completed.
