Preserving Life According To God's Word

Psalm 119:35-37
Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.


This last summer, I discovered the joy of running. I generally take my dog with me, so we can both get some exercise, and she keeps me company. We both end up completely exhausted when we’re done, but she probably runs about twice as far as I do. While I find my destination and run with that solitary goal in mind, Augustine, my dog, follows every whiff and whimsy. She’ll race ahead of me, only to find a patch of weeds she must discover and mark, only to end up with a thorn in her paw. I remove it and keep running. By this time, she’s so far behind me, I have to pull her along. She very rarely ever runs straight, she would much prefer to run to the left, then to the right – to run too far ahead, or get too far behind. Anything that can catch her eye will get her attention until something else comes along that looks more interesting. By the end of our run, her tongue is hanging nearly to the ground, and her new focus has become every puddle or spray of water she can find.

God has taught me much through all of this. The biggest thing that He has shown me is that while I (the runner) represent Jesus in my life (OK, get the laughter out – I know I’m far from the likeness of Jesus. Just follow me on this one), Augustine represents me (see, that’s more like it, isn’t it?). You see, Jesus goes along, steadily moving closer to the goal, while I am off checking out everything that catches my attention – goal? What goal? Give me glittery, pretty, and fragrant. Thankfully, Jesus always has a hold of my leash – He will never let me go, no matter what kind of bush or bramble I get stuck in. And I have to wonder how many times He has to leave the narrow road to come out into the thicket and rescue me.

How much easier would my journey be, if I would just stay one step behind Him, letting Him lead the way?

Worthless things. So much of what we chase after is worthless, completely worthless. In the end, it will just be a pile of ash, so why do we bother? We need to keep our focus on Him – our great reward, our Bridegroom. But that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? Verse 37, above, is a great memory verse – every time we find our thoughts wandering to those worthless things, we can refocus our minds through scripture. That is why it is so important to memorize. Who knows where we’ll be the next time we follow our noses instead of our Jesus, and will we be able to stop, flip open our Bible and find a passage that fits our situation? Probably not. But when we memorize scripture, the Spirit uses that to "restore us to vigorous health and life in His ways." (Psalm 119:37b amplified version)

So, let’s start together – "Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to Your Word." Psalm 119:37. Use the version you’re most used to, or look through other versions, and see if there is something that seems to fit you better. Just get the Word plastered in your brain, so we can focus on that which is worth everything.