Start the Day Happy in God

Introduction

How often have you woken up and thought, “I’m just not feeling it today”? This excuse is commonly used to justify a lack of motivation or enthusiasm. While it might be inconsequential when deciding what to eat for breakfast, it becomes a significant issue when it impacts our spiritual practices, such as reading the Bible, praying, or engaging in Christian fellowship. Unfortunately, many Christians have allowed this excuse to undermine their spiritual health, particularly in starting each day with the voice of God in Scripture.

The Problem of Pliable Affections

In his book, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, the late Tim Keller highlights a perspective from the great English theologian John Owen (1616–1683) that challenges modern assumptions. Owen would not be quick to accept the excuse, “I’m just not feeling it today.” Instead, he would argue that our initial feelings should not dictate our actions, especially concerning spiritual disciplines. Keller summarizes Owen’s counsel: “Meditate to the point of delight.” In other words, don’t give in to your heart’s first inclinations. Instead, direct them. Open the Bible, focus on God, and continue until your sluggish heart begins to respond appropriately.

This advice is particularly striking in a culture that often promotes following one’s heart and reshaping the external world based on fleeting desires. Many people, including Christians, claim to be “wired” a certain way, resigning themselves to a fixed state. However, Owen believed in the concept of “affectional plasticity” — the idea that our desires and delights are not hardwired but can be reshaped and reconditioned over time.

Reconditioning the Heart

In chapter 10 of his book, Keller elaborates on Owen’s insights, emphasizing the importance of meditating on God’s word to reshape our hearts. He argues that just as we train our bodies and minds, we can train our hearts. This training involves not only avoiding sinful emotions but also cultivating righteous ones. Keller summarizes Owen’s advice: “Meditate to the point of delight.”

Three Stages of Meditation

Owen distinguishes between study, meditation, and prayer. Meditation serves as a bridge between receiving God’s word (through reading and study) and responding to Him (through prayer). It involves three sequential stages:

1. Fix Your Mind Begin with Bible intake through reading and rereading. The slower, the better. Address any knowledge gaps by turning to study. The primary goal is to immerse yourself in the words of God. Unlike Eastern meditation, which seeks to empty the mind, biblical meditation requires filling the mind with the truth of God’s self-revelation in Scripture.
2. Incline Your Heart Fixing your thoughts can be challenging, but inclining your heart is often seen as impossible. Owen and Keller argue that it is possible, though it requires persistence. After fixing your mind on God’s word, continue meditating until you begin to feel the word. Preach to yourself until you feel the appropriate emotional response — awe at God’s majesty, fear at His warnings, joy at His good news. The goal is not to meditate for a specific duration but to persist “unto your refreshment.”
3. Enjoy Your God Finally, give space to enjoy the feelings cultivated in the second stage. This is the high point of meditation — enjoying God in Christ, which fills our souls with an “answering response.” Keller describes this as meditating until the ideas become “big” and “sweet,” moving and affecting, and until the reality of God is sensed upon the heart. This sensing leads naturally to prayer, tethered to the intake of God’s word.

Practical Insights

Owen acknowledges that sometimes, despite our efforts, we may feel bored, hard, or distracted. In such cases, he advises making brief, intense appeals for help to God. This occasional realism should not become a pattern of daily resignation. Over time, those who persist in this practice will develop the ability to meditate successfully and regularly experience the third stage.

Conclusion: Not Just Truth but Jesus

Keller concludes by emphasizing that the final focus of our meditation is not just on abstract truths but on Jesus Christ himself. As Christians, we meditate to know and enjoy both the truth and the Truth himself, who is Jesus. In our reading, study, and lingering over Scripture, we aim to experience the person of Jesus Christ, who is both perfectly human and fully divine.

Final Thoughts

Starting the day happy in God requires intentional effort to reshape our affections through meditation on His word. By fixing our minds on Scripture, inclining our hearts to feel its truths, and ultimately enjoying God, we can overcome the excuse of a sluggish heart. This disciplined approach leads to a deeper, more fulfilling spiritual life centered on the person of Jesus Christ.