Carefully Keep Our Life Clean and Pure according to God’s Word:

God’s Word shows you and me the way of making our life clean and pure by “taking heed thereto according to thy word.” Taking heed means carefully keeping or guarding. You and I must carefully keep and guard our heart, our mind, our life according to God’s Word. Why? Many are deceived by others or by themselves by taking God’s Word lightly when they compromise and fail to keep their heart and life carefully from evil communications. God’s Word warns us, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Cor 15:33). Communication, in Greek, homilia, means companionship, conversation. Some English words derived from this are “homiletic” (pertaining to the art of preaching), “homily” (a discourse), and “homilist” (one who writes or delivers homilies) (Zohdiates). 


Then, such evil communications like ungodly friendship or talk, ungodly TV programmes or websites, and unbiblical articles or sermons, etc will corrupt or ruin good manners and characters. That is why you and I must carefully keep and guard ourselves from such evil communications. Next, you and I must flee from youthful lusts, “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim 2:22). Satan makes use of human sinful nature, especially the youthful lusts, to tempt and lure them with ungodly friends, pornography, worldly pleasures, etc. It is wisest for you and me to flee or to run away from such youthful lusts by shutting our ears and turning our eyes and feet away from temptations and keeping our hearts and minds undefiled by God’s holy presence, God’s holy Word and our Saviour Jesus Christ’s precious blood. Like a clean and smooth stone in the running stream, you and I can be clean and pure always in Jesus’ precious blood when we walk in God’s light and keep our close fellowship with Him, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Praise the Lord! Finally, you and I must carefully keep ourselves clean and pure so that we may be used by our holy Lord, “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2 Tim 2:21).