We have pure drinking water, but we struggle with pure lives. We can have healthy food with clean plates and utensils, but we struggle to have clean hearts. We want to breathe unpolluted, uncontaminated air, but we don’t know how to remove polluted thoughts. How can anyone keep his or her way pure?
Psalm 119:9 opens with that question: how is it possible that anyone could keep their ways pure, holy, sinless? I don’t like impossible missions, and this sure seems like one. But it is possible, because the answer is by means of the Word of God.
But for some, that doesn’t seem much of an answer. How does an ancient book make one pure? How does words on a page enable one to overcome temptation? The truth is that the Bible is God’s Word, which means it is His power to defeat those powerful desires for sin.
So, if purity is possible by means of the Word of God, what is this specific pathway? How can we do this?
First, you must treasure and delight in God’s Word.
“Your Word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against You.” verse 11
I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your Word.” verse 16
The more you love God’s Word, the more you obey it. The Bible is not intended to be dry and dull, but to express the comforting love and transforming truth of the God who wrote it. Reading the Bible is like an open invitation to converse with the God who created you, loves you, and is working in you.
Second, you must speak and think about God’s Word.
“With my lips I have told of all the ordinances of Your mouth.” verse 13
“I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways.” verse 15
God’s Word is not meant to be in one ear and out the other, but to be part of you. to be internalized. To stay in your brain and in your heart and become part of who you are. The Bible reveals how much God loves you, and changes your internal character. The Scriptures are not old and dull, but living, active, transforming.
Read God’s Word. Love it. Think on it. Repeat often, if not daily. And you will see purity in your ways, your thoughts, your heart.