So how does a young man or a young lady keep their way pure? For that matter, how does anyone keep their way pure?
Psalm 119:9, How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.
Leading a blameless life according to scripture has never been easy. And I would like to add especially for young people. Times aren’t worse now than they were 1, 2 or 3000 years ago. There have always been temptations. There always will be temptations. In the Garden of Eden Eve was tempted to break the only rule that existed. And she broke it and her husband broke it too. That was way back at the beginning of time. That was when the devil started prowling like a roaring lion waiting for someone to devour. Remember that your enemy is never going to leave you alone, you aren’t exempt. You never reach a level that is so high or so important that you won’t be under surveillance.
I found such a lot of wisdom in Proverbs about how to live a good life.
Proverbs 3:1-12, Good friend, don’t forget all I’ve taught you;
take to heart my commands.
They’ll help you live a long, long time,
a long life lived full and well.
Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty.
Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.
Earn a reputation for living well
in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
a father’s delight is behind all this.
This advice was given by a father to his son, but it isn’t just for men or for young people. Every one of us needs to take heed of these truths and apply them to our lives, to every situation we are in.
Apparently the Chinese philosopher said, “The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it.” We will do well to remember that. Most of us have heard more sermons than we can remember. We have read countless books. Let’s assume that the only books we read are scripture based books. There are very, very few people who can remember everything they have read and who apply everything they read. Of course, we have all kinds of self-help books, dvd’s and podcasts available too. We are living in the age of information and it often feels like a sensory overload with all the information that is being spewed at us. Want to know something, want to know how to do something? Look no further than Google, and of course Pinterest. There’s virtually nothing you can’t find on the net. Have you ever thought of the www, or world wide web as being a spider’s web that is drawing you in to all kinds of things that look very good but are not good information or good advice at all? You become like an unsuspecting fly that sits on a sticky web and cannot free itself. That’s what happens when people surf the net indiscriminately. Young people are particularly vulnerable if they don’t have a firm Christian foundation.
Matthew 7:26-27, But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”
If the foundation isn’t strong it doesn’t take much for the house to collapse. We can get so easily confused between what is right and what is wrong when people say and do things that are borderline. We need to have a very firm foundation from which to draw wisdom is we want to stay standing in the inconsistent times we live in.
alexfromalexblog 