Reasoning vs. Reading

I've been meditating on the idea of meditating a lot recently. There have been other blogs, other locations where I've put down some thoughts, but one thing I have gotten to thinking about is the balance we have between reasoning and meditating on applications and "truth" in our head and the recitation and reading of Scripture. I don't mean that they are at odds, but more in how much thinking we really should do. I fully understand that we should use the Bible as truth, the baseline for knowing what is right--and nothing that we rationalize or think about should contradict it. However, what about those issues, those ideas and application in our life that are not right/wrong, multiple choice questions? The essays of life, that we encounter and need on a daily basis. Like love, joy, patience, etc. that are not quite quantifiable.

Somewhere in here there is a balance I think. On the one hand, we reason a lot in our heads, and that is where we can apply scripture or character attributes to our life. However, we can also mislead ourselves, and listen to "voices" that are not Godly. Thus, I think it is important to not rely too heavily on simply thinking about issues. But the other hand is simply reading, memorizing and recititing scripture. I think that there has to be a little more that we do to this, to apply it to our lives. Maybe that application is memorizing appropriate scripture for appropriate situations, to keep yourself from falling to temptation. However, we are to meditate on God and His Word, which seems to me that as we go about each day, we need to think about Him and what each action, each decision we make is in relation to God and His perfect will and grace.

So what exactly is that balance? I'm not positive--but I know that is why we are Christians, and love each other. So that as iron sharpens iron, so one man can sharpen another. Bounce ideas off each other, get in deep (and shallow) discussions about life. Especially people of similar basis--that are followers of Christ and know the truth of this life. This way, we don't get blindsided from within, the voices that can so easily entangle us into doubt and confusion.

Let's keep the mind open, the heart soft, and the spirit willing.