Police Devotional
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalm 119:11)
God commanded us, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23). So it must be possible to keep this command. God wouldn’t give us a command that He knew we couldn’t keep. So how do you keep your heart from getting cold, in spite of all the sin that you deal with on the job?
One thing that will help is to make a habit of hiding God’s word in your heart. Our verse, Psalm 119:11, says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” To hide God’s word in your heart means to memorize it regularly, and to bring it to mind and think about it often. Psalm 1:1-2 says, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”
When you make a habit of hiding God’s word in your heart, the Lord will bring scripture to your mind just when you need it. By way of example, two officers on patrol had an incident like this: they saw a young man on a bicycle some distance away. He saw them and spit in their direction. They knew that he had spit toward them to insult them. They also knew that spitting toward the police is not illegal. However, they also knew that riding a bike without a license plate—which he didn’t have—IS illegal. They had hidden the law about bike riding in their hearts, so it came in handy when they needed it.
Likewise, making a habit of hiding God’s word in your heart will help you when you need it. Do people ever provoke you to say things that a Christian shouldn’t say? Of course. Psalm 39:1 is a great scripture for times like this: “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.”
Meditate also on God’s word, which means to recite it, to think about it. Do you ever catch yourself daydreaming, and your thoughts aren’t even very pleasant or useful? Instead, focus on a scripture passage. Meditating on God’s word will help you in your thought-life, and it gives God a chance to minister to your heart through His word.
Don’t think you can’t memorize and recite scripture. Don’t say to yourself, “I can’t do that. I have a bad memory.” That’s like saying, “I can’t do push-ups. My arms are too weak.” The answer to weak arms is to do push-ups. Even if you can only do ten push-ups, do ten. Later, you’ll be able to do twelve, then twenty, and you’ll be stronger. Likewise, if you can only memorize short passages, start with short passages. You’ll get better and memorize longer passages, and you’ll be amazed at how God will use His word to help you in your personal and professional life.
If you want to see in the Bible how to have forgiveness of sins and eternal life, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Ministries”, “Reaching Out”, then “How do I go to Heaven?”
Brian Miller 1/7/2015
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822