The Beauty of a Barfing Cow

"Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." -Psalm 1:2

I remember as a child when I was taught this verse. I was taught that "meditating on the Word" was akin to "ruminating". I vaguely understood what it meant, and so I would open my Bible to read a verse with the vision of a barfing cow in my mind. I would promptly close my Bible and go do something more meaningless, yet soothing.

In my current, deeper walk with the Lord, I refuse to be intimidated by the image of a barfing cow. However, God beckoned me to look deeper into the process of rumination in order to understand why this word is so important in understanding the act of "meditating on the law of the Lord".

When a ruminant (cow, goat, antelope, deer, sheep, etc.) takes a bite of grass, it's only slightly chewed before it's swallowed. Now, grass and brush are coarse fibers that require a lot of breaking down before the body can properly utilize it's nutrients. The first place the grass goes is into the rumen. The rumen is a large fermentation vat. It's loaded with bacteria that breaks down the food and gives off enormous amounts of methane. However, once around isn't enough, so the ruminant will burp up it's cud to be chewed again while it's at rest.

"O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from of old." -Psalm 78:1&2

After being chewed twice, the cud will pass on into the reticulum. The inside structure of the reticulum looks like a honeycomb. The Word of God, to someone who is searching for truth, is sweeter than honey. In the reticulum, there will be further fermentation to break down the food.

"Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." -Philippians 4:8

From the reticulum, the cud will now enter into the omasum. The omasum is interesting because it's insides resemble the pages of a book, and it is here that excess liquid is removed and the size of the food is vastly decreased. The book we rely most heavily on is obviously the bible. The bible acts as a filter for all the information we're bombarded with on a daily basis. It is the standard for truth, and anything excess is sponged away when placed next to this awesome plumb line.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." -2 Timothy 3:16&17

Lastly, there is the abomasum. The abomasum is most like a human stomach as it secretes enzymes that break down the food to it's final stage before hitting the intestines. The abomasum is the stomach that a baby ruminant uses to process it's mother's milk. If the milk goes into any other compartment, it could make the animal very sick. All other compartments must be developed through practice and experience! After a few days of life, a baby ruminant will nibble it's mother's hair, feces, and bits of hay in order to introduce the much needed bacteria and fibers into it's other stomach compartments. As it's tolerance for complex fibers grows, it's first stomach shrinks. Within a couple months, the rumen will grow to be the largest of the four compartments. As much as the abomasum is desperately needed for the first part of it's life, if the ruminant were to continue drinking milk and never develop it's rumen, it's growth would be stunted.

"Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for he mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." -Hebrews 5:13-14

What we meditate on and take into our inmost parts, will come back up and onto our tongues. What we continue to swallow, will one day come out of us, and we will show the world what it is we have been meditating upon. Ruminate on the Word of God. Don't quickly glaze over some passages or mindlessly recite them. These are the oracles of our Creator! Take time to really digest them, and speak them, and live them. Remember, what you put in your "think tank", will pass onto your "doo tank".

"Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." -Philippians 4:9

"If you read quickly, it will benefit you little. You will be like a bee that merely skims the surface of a flower. Instead, in this new way of reading with prayer, you must become as the bee who penetrates into the depths of the flower. You plunge deeply within to remove the deepest nectar." -Madame Guyon