Eight Steps to Keep the Word of God

Living for Jesus requires the believer to engage the Word of God constantly. Well known pastor, James Montgomery Boice, declared, “God alone can cleanse the heart, and he does so through the agency of His Word, the Bible.” Thus, the believer engages the Bible for the purpose of the Lord transforming the heart to be more like Jesus. In Psalm 119:9-16, the Psalmist provided eight critical steps to keep the Word of God in our hearts and so that the work of continual transformation will occur.

Step 1 – Intentionally Seek – The Psalmist revealed the necessity to seek the Lord with all of one’s heart for the purpose of growing. The intentional nature of seeking means that the believer battles against approaching the Word of God haphazardly and adopts a systematic approach that guides one’s engagement. To intentionally seek indicates that the believer engages with a purpose and seeks to allow the truth to impact the life. When one is not intentional in engaging the Word of God faithfully, then the ability to keep the Word in one’s heart diminishes.

Step 2 – Desire Protection – The Psalmist asked the Lord to protect him from wandering away from the truth of God’s Word. Likewise, believers today face many temptations that lure us away from the ways of the Lord. Each believer needs the protection and guidance of the Lord in the battle to restrain the flesh and the ability to follow the God’s ways. The base understanding is that the believer who keeps the Word of the Lord knows the struggle to follow the ways of the Lord and understands the need of the Lord to remain faithful.

Step 3 – Store Up the Truth – The truth of God’s word does not need to be read alone, but one must store the Word in their heart according to the Psalmist. The storage of the Word transfers the truth from the knowledge of the mind and moves it to the heart so that it impacts the foundation of life. The stored truth remains accessible when needed in life because it is there readily available to be trusted and leaned upon. The storing of the Word provides a critical component to the battle against the influence of the flesh as a reservoir of strength to overcome.

Step 4 – Let the Lord Teach the Truth – Left to our own understanding, an individual may read into God’s Word for the purpose of justifying their beliefs instead of allowing the Word to define their beliefs. As a result, to keep the Word of God properly, the believer needs to ask the Lord to illuminate His truth and to teach one through His Word. Relying upon the Lord for instruction from the Word provides an avenue for God to speak into the life and continue the transformation of one’s life to reflect Him.

Step 5 – Proclaim the Truth – The believer who keeps the Word of the Lord proclaims the truth of the Word. The Psalmist challenged believers to the truth that one needs to proclaim what is learned as an avenue of strengthening one’s own understanding. Yes, proclamation of truth impacts others, but the act also deepens the truths of Scripture in one’s own life. Thus, the act of discussing and sharing the truth of God’s Word aids in the ability to keep the Word of God.

Step 6 – Rejoice in God’s Ways – The storing of the Word of God in the life of the believer promotes the activating of rejoicing in the Lord. The rejoicing rests in the reality that the Word impacts life, give hope to people, and prepares followers to walk through life. Thus, rejoicing comes because of God’s provision through His Word. Likewise, rejoicing comes in keeping the Word because the Bible provides the way unto salvation, the way to live out salvation, and the way to live in the promises of salvation. Thus, keeping the Word of God leads to rejoicing due to the Word of God.

Step 7 – Apply the Truth – The Psalmist indicated that keeping the Word of God indicates that the believer applies the truth of the Word to one’s life. This active life occurs when one meditates or thinks deeply upon the Word of God and desires to understand the truth to the deepest of implications. The believer seeks the truth to comprehend the applicable truths for life and to form the heart that leads to proper thinking and activity. Thus, the believer keeps the Word for the purpose of applying the Word to life properly.

Step 8 – Continue Feasting on God’s Word – The believer never stops feasting upon God’s Word. The follower of Christ recognizes that the Word of God is the needed nutrition for the believer’s life and walk. Thus, the Christian desires to feast upon the Word over and over again. For the believer, the Word never grows old, but instead constantly fills the deepest hungers in life. Thus, keeping the Word takes a constant commitment to feasting continually.

How do you approach the Word of the Lord? Are you practicing the critical steps to keep the Word of the Lord in your life today? Will you commit to intentionally engaging the Word of God for the purpose of keeping it in your heart so that you are able to live in the transformed life. May we live with the desire to allow God’s Word to be the agent to continually lead in continual cleansing of the heart.