ABC: Bible Meditation for Me!: Zz is for Zeal

ABC Bible Meditation for Me: Bible Meditation Vs. Eastern Meditation

Zz Is for Zeal, Zealot

Introduction:  This is a sample lesson in a twenty-six part series focusing on lessons designed for parents, grandparents, teachers, and kids.  Each lesson will focus on both biblical, and nonbiblical meditation.

Z Is for Zealot

Z is for zealot,
someone who,
is ardently active,
devoted too.

Z Is for Zeal, P Is for Paul

Z is for zeal, P is for Paul,
who before he met Jesus,
the Bible recalls
went after Christians
to slaughter them all.

Z is for zealot, P is for Paul
who after he met Jesus,
the Bible recalls
began to preach Jesus
to one and to all!

Paul Had Zeal!

Before he met the Lord, Philippians 3:6 tells us that Paul had great zeal to persecute Christians.  Acts tells us he zealously went after all who were of the way (of Jesus) to destroy them.  But, after Paul was saved on the Damascus Road, Paul became very zealous about preaching Jesus with those very same Christians he once hated.  Question:  Can someone be zealous for the wrong cause?   Name some present day zealots.  Discuss this.

The Psalmist's Zeal

In Psalm 119, over and over the Psalmist shows great zeal for the Word of God--or the law, the testimonies, the precepts, the commandments, the statues, and the judgments.  He wrote about this
in Psalm 119:97.

The All the Day Meditation Recitation to Say:

"O how love I thy law!  It is my meditation all the day."

The Psalmist has great love for the word of God or the law.  Notice the exclamation mark.  All day long he thinks about or meditates on God's word.  He is zealous over it.  He also mentions there is something he is zealous against in Ps. 119:104.  He says, "I hate every false way!"

Bible Meditation Marker 

Make an oversized "exclamation mark" marker sized to fit in your Bible.  Cut it out.  At the top in dark bold letters write "O how love I" and in the ball at the bottom "thy law!"  Turn it over and write "It is my meditation all the day."   Insert in your Bible.

The Eastern Meditation Way

Thich Nhat Hanh: A Zen Zealot

Zealous for Zen

Thich Nhat Hanh
is a defender of Zen-
a monk that's mentioned
again and again.

Thich Nhat Hanh's Mindfulness Rituals

Thich Nhat Hanh practices mindfulness where one gets still, focusing on their breath or repeated words to clear the mind. To help with this, TNH wrote poem verses called gathas for every moment  from starting of the day to ending it. As one awakens, gets out of bed, meditates, offers incense,
praises Buddha, eats, and so on, one repeats an appropriate gatha for that activity.   TNH feels if a gatha is repeated the meditator will return to himself becoming more aware of every action.  In short, gathas become mantras.  But are these gathas like God's word?  Not at all, for they are but the words of a man.  From TNH's book: Present Moment Wonderful Moment.     

Parental Suggestions:

Introduce the Concordance 

Introduce your child to the use of a concordance: either at the back of a Bible or on-line.  Look up zeal, zealous, and zealot.  Which did you find?

Research These Zen Zealots

Jon Kabat-Zinn is a Jewish Zen Buddhist zealot.  He is known as being the founder of the mindfulness movement here in the USA.  Kabat-Zinn, by the way, studied under Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh.  Also research Father Thomas Merton, a Roman Catholic monk, who had an affinity for Zen Buddhism and meditated with monks in the Far East.  Merton, by the way, met Thich Nhat Hanh too.

Article to read:  "Meet Mr. Mindfulness: How Jon Kabat-Zinn Brought Mindfulness to the Masses." (Parade Magazine, November 22, 2018)