I think it’s true that the longer you are with someone the more alike you become. When Brian and I were first married, this guy loved eating weird things, raw oysters, for instance. I would turn away every time he would eat them, making disgusted facial expressions and comments about how what he is eating looks like mucous! Gross.

Yesterday, Brian and I shared some oysters that he picked up from our local fish monger. It dawned on me that what I once found disgusting, I was now actually enjoying (even though it still looks like mucous!).

The point is that because I love Brian, I want to love what Brian loves. I want to share in what he finds enjoyable. And I learn about the things he loves by spending time with him.

Psalm. 119:11 says,

I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.

The same is true for God. The way I get to know what God loves and what God does not love is by being with God. Spending time in God’s word. I would never want to hurt God. I would never want to sin against God. So, by hiding the word of God in my heart — by meditating on God’s word—I have learnt and continue to learn to love what God loves.

The more of God’s word we tuck into our hearts the more we end up living in alignment with God because we learn to discern… “Oh this leads us on a path that is pleasing to God, and this is the path that leads us away from God.”

The greatest thing we can do is meditate on the Word of God and allow it to be hidden in our heart, and we will find that when there is a moment to compromise; a temptation to take offence; a moment to go down the wrong road, it’s the Word of God (that is hidden in our heart) that will:

sustain us,
strengthen us,
keep us on the right path, and,
cause us not to sin against God.

I want to remind you today that God loves you, that God is for you. God has sent His word to protect you and to build you up so that you can have a life that flourishes in God!