Psalm 119:9, 11
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. NIV
The psalmist there asks a very practical question. Is it possible for a young person really to lead a pure life? And there are many schools of thought, many forms of psychology and sociology, that write that off as impossibility. They say it’s natural in man to indulge his sexual life and indulge his fleshly desires and there’s nothing to be done about it. But I want to tell you that that’s not true.
It is possible for a young person to lead a pure life and there’s still a great reward for those who choose chastity and purity as a way of life. How is it possible? The psalmist answers his own question: By living according to God’s Word.
Then he goes on to say, “I have hidden God’s word in my heart that I might not sin against God.” That’s the secret of purity. It’s hiding God’s Word in your heart, because one or other of two things is going to happen:
Either God’s Word will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from God’s Word.
So don’t just flow with the current like a dead fish. Be willing to be a live fish and swim against the stream. God’s Word will give you the strength if you hide it in your heart. It is possible to lead a pure life even in today’s world.
- Derek Prince
