Desiring Purity
“How can a young man keep himself pure? By living according to your Word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:9-11
What does it mean to “hide God’s word in our heart?” What is it to remain pure? How do we seek God with all our heart?
I once read a quote that said “The Bible will keep you from sin, and sin will keep you from the Bible”. Maybe it sounds simplistic, but it’s quite true. Daily meditating on God’s word and reading it will help us stay away from sin. It’s when we spend time everyday with God that our character is changed and we begin to look at sin differently, and we become more and more like Jesus. My favourite author Philip Yancey said, “The solution to sin is not to impose an ever- stricter code of behaviour. It is to know God.” And how can we know God if we do not spend time reading His word? But hearing it is just one thing. Doing, is another.
I think one reason why the struggle to keep pure in this world is difficult is because we don’t keep God’s word in our heart. We hear about it, yet we don’t keep it. We let it pass through our ears.
When you hide something, it’s the most precious thing for you, something you value and cherish the most. It’s like hiding or keeping your jewelries where no one else can find it but you. You’ll keep it so close to your heart. Last night, as I was reflecting on this, I realized that this is how I should treat God’s Word. Find God’s word to be the most important thing in your life, hide it in your heart, do what it says, and we’ll find that obeying it will not be as hard.
This is my prayer: Lord God, help us not only desire purity, but to live it out daily. Give us the grace to say NO to our earthly desires, and help us glorify you in what we think, say, and do. Like David, enable us to keep going straight, not to stray from your commands or choose to disobey. Instead, help us hide your Word in our heart, where only you reside. Amen.
loved this article
the power of words can’t be underestimated, indeed. i don’t know but somehow this post reminds me of the book thief by markus zusak. it’s the best book that i’ve read this year. it’s based on actual people and events during world war ii. it’s a beautiful love story. it centers about the heroine stealing books and her struggles with words. towards the end of her life, she commented, “i have hated the words and i have loved them, and i hope that i have made them right.” i love that quote so much that i feature it on my blog.
for some people, the beginning pages didn’t seem to make sense (it did to me. my brain is wired differently), but once they got over them, the were hooked and couldn’t put it down.
Oh wow, i think i’m going to get that book, then
seems like a nice read.