Hide It in Your Heart

What is the primary weapon we should use to resist temptation? Answer: the Word of God. When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He responded again and again, "It is written . . ." He was showing us how to use God’s Word when attacks come.

Writing about the armor of God, the apostle Paul said, "Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). Among the things he listed in Ephesians 6, there is only one offensive weapon: "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

God has given us His Word as the primary weapon to defend ourselves. There is power in His Word. Psalm 119:9 says, "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word." Interestingly, this is addressed to a young man. If you are young, how do you live a pure life? By listening to what the Word of God says.

A few verses later the psalmist says, "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You" (verse 11). This means memorizing the Bible.

You might be thinking, I can’t. I’m not good at memorizing things.

Just think about all the things you have memorized without even knowing it. You have song lyrics memorized. You remember trivia about sports figures. You have all kinds of things in the memory banks of your mind because they interest you and you fill your mind with them.

Open up some space for the Word of God. I have verses today floating around in my brain that I memorized at the age of seventeen, verses that have stayed with me all these years.

We need to know the Word of God.