Psalm 119:9
Young people can live a clean life by obeying your word.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I’ve been reading in Oswald Chambers’ book My Utmost for His Highest about human impulse. We humans love to act impulsively. Even on the most basic level, if your hands get dirty, your first impulse may be to wash them. When your clothes are stained or you’ve worn them for a while, you feel the urge to wash them.
When something goes wrong in your life, is your first impulse often to run to God and pray? Is one of your immediate thoughts…”Lord, I need you to fix this… to ‘clean’ up this mess!”? Often, our next “impulse” is that we have to correct this situation as fast as possible… we are embarrassed, ashamed, panicked, and fearful… all tools that Satan loves to wield in our direction.
Chambers says that God doesn’t pay any attention to our impulses. In fact, He ignores them. God doesn’t want us to act impulsively in our relationship with Him. He is waiting for us to get so deeply ingrained in His word… to develop such a constant, abiding relationship with Him… that He is not even “second nature” to us – but rather, first nature. God wants us to relate to Him so deeply that living a clean life is a no-brainer, because we are totally immersed in obeying His word and teaching, and we don’t know how to act otherwise.
In order to keep our clothes clean, we would have to sit perfectly still and never move. Even sitting still would not prevent our bodies from becoming dirty over time. But we can keep our spiritual body clean and remove any need for impulse… or desperation. In our relationship with God, we can grow beyond the human confines of such emotions and behaviors as impulse… and in doing so, remove the need to operate in the realm of Satan’s fear, guilt and shame.
No matter what age you are, it’s not too late to start digging deeper into God’s word. It’s never too late to start cultivating a more intimate relationship with Him – one where His presence is as vital and constant as the air you breathe. Young people of all ages can “come clean” today and begin to remove the opportunity for impulsiveness, as you grow closer to God. Are you ready to clean up your act?
©2010 Debbie Robus
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