“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.” – Psalm 119:9-11
Have you ever given consideration to those things you hold close to your heart? For instance, I have several friends who know a lot about a lot of interesting things. One almost always seems to have a movie quote for every situation in life. Another has a ridiculous amount of sports stats stored away in his head that he can pull out at any given moment. I know a girl who seemingly has the ability to remember every Hollywood celebrity relationship, how long they dated, when they were married, and the number of kids they have. Hold on. It gets better.
I have a really good friend who has almost every Oscar winner (since the Oscar people began giving awards) in every category memorized. One word: Why? Or what about this – I have another friend who has been in over 15 plays and still knows every line she has ever had to memorize. I also have a friend that I refer to as the “human musical encyclopedia”. From the beginning of the Rock ‘N Roll years forward, he can tell you band members, names of hit songs, the year a given song made it big, record producers, and more. You name it! If it’s about American Music, he knows it… by heart.
Isn’t it funny all the information that each of us seems to know by heart? You’ve probably even made a comment such as this before: “I know the lyrics to my favorite song (or favorite movie line, or favorite…whatever) by heart?
What’s interesting about this idea of knowing things by heart is that it dates way, way, way back; like the beginning of time back. In ancient times, the heart was considered to be the nucleus of the emotions and of all human knowledge. So, to know something by heart meant, it was so well known to that person, that, it actually became a part of who the person was.
Consider your relationship with God and ask yourself: How much of God’s Word do I know “by heart” compared to other things in my life important to me?
Psalm 119:10 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.“ It’s never too early or too late to start getting to know God more. The more you know God, the more you grow to be like Him. This will happen as you give Him more priority in your life. So, think about those things important to you…to your heart. Then, consider giving God a spot at the front of them all!
