{"id":41631,"date":"2015-01-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/soaking-tea-bag-is-like-biblical-meditation\/"},"modified":"2015-01-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-01-26T00:00:00","slug":"soaking-tea-bag-is-like-biblical-meditation","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/soaking-tea-bag-is-like-biblical-meditation\/","title":{"rendered":"Soaking a Tea Bag Is Like Biblical Meditation"},"content":{"rendered":"

To explain how Scripture meditation goes beyond hearing, reading, studying, and even memorizing as a means of taking in God's Word, author Donald Whitney provides the analogy of a cup of tea:<\/p>\n\n

\n

In this analogy your mind is the cup of hot water and the tea bag represents your intake of Scripture. Hearing God's Word is like one dip of the tea bag into the cup. Some of the tea's flavor is absorbed by the water, but not as much as would occur with a more thorough soaking of the bag. Reading, studying, and memorizing God's Word are like additional plunges of the tea bag into the cup. The more frequently the tea enters the water, the more permeating its effect. Meditation, however, is like immersing the bag completely and letting it steep until all the rich tea flavor has been extracted and the hot water is thoroughly tinctured reddish brown. Meditation on Scripture is letting the Bible brew in the brain. Thus we might say that as the tea colors the water, meditation likewise "colors" our thinking. When we meditate on Scripture it colors our thinking about God, about God's ways and his world, and about ourselves.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Editor's Note: You could also try this with a simple prop—a real tea bag placed in hot water. Use a glass mug so your people can see the tea permeate and change the color of the water.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[408,411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3485,3487,3778,4448,4452,4754,4893,5043,5045,5046,5291],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-41631","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-bible","tax_ctp_tags-bible-reading","tax_ctp_tags-devotions","tax_ctp_tags-meditation","tax_ctp_tags-memorization","tax_ctp_tags-quiet-time","tax_ctp_tags-scripture","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-food","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-formation","tax_ctp_tags-word-of-god"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\nSoaking a Tea Bag Is Like Biblical Meditation - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/soaking-tea-bag-is-like-biblical-meditation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Soaking a Tea Bag Is Like Biblical Meditation - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To explain how Scripture meditation goes beyond hearing, reading, studying, and even memorizing as a means of taking in God's Word, author Donald Whitney provides the analogy of a cup of tea: In this analogy your mind is the cup of hot water and the tea bag represents your intake of Scripture. 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