Know "By Heart"? (Newsletter Sep07)

How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your Word. With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your Word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You. ~ Ps. 119:9-11

Why? How? What’s that? I wrestled as the all-familiar Ps. 119:9-11 struck me for the first time that the Psalmist kept God’s Word in his heart (not just “in his mind” – my understanding of the passage and thus of scripture memory all along). Slowly I saw the difference between memory and mechanical memorizing. The good Lord used a 40-year-wilderness and daily-manna-depending journey to teach the Israelites by heart: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. He used unbelievers, wicked Ninevites, a fish, a plant, a worm, and bad weather to teach Jonah the condition of his heart. And through my housing problem, He’s teaching me to wait patiently according to His timing, to trust by faith in His loving sovereignty, and to give thanks through times of inconveniences and unmet needs.

My family of seven moved into a three-room flat 29 years ago, with five siblings sharing a room (the only shift I’d in my first 23 years of life). In joining my company, I’d to move into ladies’ staff-quarters. While on short-term missions (India), staff in my home-country was encouraged to move home from staff-quarters. So upon returning from India, there’s hardly any staff-quarters and I wasn’t ready to share room with my brother anymore. During my depression days, I’d temporarily lived with my married siblings’ families. Then I rented a room. The lease was up on 7 Oct. I’d to look for a place again. In moving 12 times over 12 years, how I long for a home. Recently when I finally became eligible to apply for flats, the high prices say it’s only wise to wait. Jesus’ words comfort and challenge me: "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

“Life often comes at us with TNT force, leaving us emotionally tentative and spiritually bewildered. Our circumstances often don't seem fair and certainly don't appear to be normal.” Patsy Clairmont wrote. God often uses challenging situations to push us to be seeking Him for answers to urgent, personal, significant questions. Amidst the many alternatives of the world, Jesus has promised every persevering seeker to find life (Mt. 7:7-8). Larry Crabb’s writing reminded me: The Revealer has given us the Bible as His specific revelation, able to give wisdom for finding life. He believes of a legitimate approach to understanding Scripture that can provide us with a biblical understanding of every personal (non-organically caused) problem. I agree. So to be a more effective people-helper, I started taking some classes at a seminary school as a visiting student.

As I study, may I never be like the “experts” of the Scriptures, knowing Christ would be born in Bethlehem but didn’t go look for Him (Lk. 2:1-6). Instead, shepherds, three magi, Simeon, and Anna had the awesome privilege to wondrously behold their God, Baby Jesus. Sadly, those Scripture-teachers have God’s Word only in their heads, not their hearts. They were always saying the right things, but as 1 Sam. 16:7b goes, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” It’s tragic that they didn’t even recognize God when He was among them. No wonder Jesus said, “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” What do I really treasure? As I get into the Word of Life, may the Word of Life get into my heart more, that I maybe more humble and dependent on Him, living out the eternal life and blessing people.