Hide the word in your heart

a post by Assistant Pastor Andrew Fidurko

-- Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 --
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.”
     God loves us, and we are His children and heirs with Him in heaven.  We need to recognize the lessons that God our Father has been teaching us throughout time.  We do this by reading the Bible.  God’s Word is one of the most, if not the most, important communication devices that God has given us here on earth.  In this book, God has written down things for us to learn about Him and learn about ourselves.  
I believe that people in the world today look at Christianity as a list of do’s and don’ts.  In a small group recently someone said, “Because I know God and because I love Him and know that He loves me, it makes me want to do the things that He says to do, and not do the things He says not to do.”  Now what happens is emotion and failure get in the way of our inner success of this task. We want all the answers and to be perfect now, but only through reading His word will we even start to understand how our relationship with God should be.  
     The above scripture talks about the Ten Commandments.  Do you know the Ten Commandments, and have them in your mind and heart?  Do you know the “greatest commandment” that Jesus said? Our love of God should help drive us to go deeper and deeper into the word to find out these answers for ourselves. 
     Our parents set up rules in our home, not because they want to punish us, but because they love us and wanted us to grow.  God loves you and wants you to continue to grow.  Read your Bible daily, and memorize scripture if you can.  Start with your favorites and the well-known verses.  Make a list of the books of the Bible, and attempt to read 1 book a month, or 1 chapter a week.  Start small and build.  I believe that you can do this.  
-- Psalm 119: 9-11 --
“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.”
     God’s Word is powerful, and through continuing to read, during the times that you are tempted or challenged, it will rise up in you to be able to combat the enemy and temptations.  By relying on the Word of God as a powerful ally in our Christian journey, we will grow.