THE KEY IS GOD'S WORD

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?

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.

Praise be to You, Lord; teach me Your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from Your mouth.

I rejoice in following Your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.

I meditate on Your precepts and consider Your ways.

I delight in Your decrees; I will not neglect Your word.

Psalm 119:9-16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I often have a concern about your youth today, especially as we watch our world become more and more liberal, advocating actions that were once forbidden as acceptable. It seems the ways of the Bible are being replaced little by little by the ways of the world, the desires of God no longer taking first priority.

In the midst of this concern, we can find ourselves asking the same question as the psalmist in our scripture passage:

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?

Further than that, how can anyone today stay on a path of purity, living in the kind of righteousness and holiness expected by the Lord?

Well, the psalmist goes on to give us the following answers and as we will see, the key is the word of God:

How can we stay on the path of purity?

Answer 1: We can hide the word of God in our hearts so we won’t sin against Him.

In order to live in a way that leads us away from sin, we need to live in accordance with God’s word and we can only do that when we know that word and hide it in our heart. This leads us to answer 2.

Answer 2: We can live in accordance with God’s word.

Once we know the word and have it hidden in our hearts, then we will begin to live in accordance with that word. Our actions, spoken words, and thoughts will all be directed by the scriptures and sanctioned by the Lord.

Answer 3: We continue to seek God with all our heart.

Consistency is paramount when we start to live fully in accordance with the word of God. As we cherish His word, we ever more cherish Him in our lives and want to seek Him more and more.

Answer 4: We ask for God’s help to keep us from straying.

As much as God wants you to be in His word and walking in righteousness, Satan wants you to be heading the opposite direction and is very crafty in getting us astray. We can’t avoid this by our own strength and so we need to ever remain connected to the One who can and will keep us living according to His will and way.

Answer 5: We seek God’s instruction.

Living a life for the Lord is a continual learning experience. We need to always seek His guidance and ask Him to teach us His will and way.

Answer 6: We tell others about what God commands.

When the word of God takes root in our hearts and in our lives, we will find it permeating every part of our being and so any conversation we have with others will include testifying to the ways and will of the Father.

Answer 7: We rejoice in following His word as one rejoices in great riches. We delight in His decrees.

Who would want to join us in following the word of God if we begrudged doing it, living in misery as we yearned to live like the world lived? The word of Lord should bring us to a place of rejoicing and praise as He leads us ever more into righteousness.

Answer 8: We meditate on His word.

Any study of the word of God needs to be accompanied by prayer as we ask God to illuminate the study of His word by way of the Holy Spirit. Prayer also helps us to galvanize our relationship with God who is our Father and Creator Parent. When we call on Him in prayer, rest assured He hears us and will answer.

Answer 9: We consider God’s ways.

How do we come into consideration of the ways of God? We study and meditate on His word.

Answer 10: We will not neglect His word.

We neglect the word of God in several ways.

We neglect His word when we choose to not read and follow it. And when we disregard His instruction and guidance, we send a clear message to God that sin is more important to us than righteousness and that’s just not going to cut it.

Yes, the key to spiritual purity is found in God’s word. Given this, it’s little surprise that we should find this statement spoken in Deuteronomy and quoted by Jesus as He combated Satan’s attempts to turn Him from the Father toward sin:

“Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

Want to live a healthy spiritual life?

The key is God’s word and we need to feed ourselves well from it every day He blesses us with.

 Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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