Plant Thorn Bushes

Psalm 119:9 "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word." ESV

I think each generation asks the same question - why are young people today so rebellious and apt to disobey? And why aren't they motivated like we were?

I'm sure my parents asked that question of my generation, which grew up in the tumultuous 60's and fashion-starved 70's. They wondered at the long hair and ratty clothes and the counter culture that deemed anyone over 30 suspect.

Now it's our turn - looking at today's generation we who are now parents wonder at the work ethic and the piercings and tatoos and we wonder why they don't trust us who now know it all and have an example for them to follow.

Well, truth be told - as we grow and learn from hard experience our perspective changes both on our own attitudes and on the attitudes of those who come after us. Each generation has their own rebellion, and it has to be different than the one from the generation before it or you couldn't call it rebellion and it wouldn't be as much fun!

I would like us to take a different tack on this issue and it comes from Psalm 119 quoted above. How can young people keep a pure way? The word "pure" comes from a Hebrew word that means "transclucent." I like that. When we are really young it seems we want to please our parents (most of the time) and are eager for a relationship with God. But as the world entices us we make bad decisions and our once clear conscience becomes clouded with sin.

The key is the Word of God, of course. That's what Psalm 119 is all about. The answers to all of life's questions are revealed in its pages. But what I find interesting is how the Word is applied. The ESV says to "guard" our lives according to the Word. That word "guard" is a Hebrew word that could literally mean to plant a hedge of thorns around something.

I love that picture. Have you ever gotten into the middle of a bunch of rose bushes? You try to move and you get poked by the thorns. Or like here in Oregon if you ever get tangled in a blackberry bush you can't get out without many cuts and torn clothes.

So God's Word then can help hedge our lives into a certain order. Now I'm not talking about legalism - punishing you if you stray from the path. I'm talking about so taking in God's Word that when the enticement from the world comes and tempts you to begin moving out of the character of the Lord that His Word will act like the prick of a thorn - warning you "don't go that way."

Anyway - just a thought for today.