We live in a world today that stands strongly against the rule and government of God. The story of the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah is related in Genesis 18-19, and in the passage, the Bible mentions that these cities were destroyed for their sins, – sins that caused the cry of their land to come up to God in heaven. How terrible they must have been! They were a people that had absolutely ‘no fear of God’. How could the first thought that occurred to these men of Sodom and Gomorrah on seeing their fellow men be to have carnal knowledge of them? They were also proud of this abomination! just imagine this… These potray a group of men whose hearts had indeed been seared with a hot iron; their hearts were terribly hardened.
The world in which we live in today can be likened to Sodom, but it is actually worse than Sodom ever was. We live in a world where men delight so much in evil, where God means nothing to some, a world where the word of God might even sound alien to some, a world where some do not even believe in His existence, while some that say He exists literally relegate Him to the background. A world where Satan is at liberty, a world where good is seen as evil, and evil as good, a stained world…
As students who are in the University today, we are in another world; a world culled from and at the same time part of the world we live in today. It is a world with a lot of happenings, filled with things you might be seeing or hearing for the first time. It is a world where those with weak convictions might eventually lose their faith. A world filled with allurements, dainties, gold-like attractions, and what have you? A world where soldiers of the cross have to come into fully and well armed with the complete armour of God.
But do you know dear scholar that as a student you can live successfully in the campus world unstained, a lily in its mire, maintaining purity, and living triumphantly as God would have you do? But you know, living victoriously as a Christian student on campus does not happen by chance…You have to first make up your mind to not just to come to the campus environment but to go through it, and come out of it unstained. That you live in Sodom does not mean that you must or should be influenced by it! Ask Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego…They were students like you and I in another land, and if they could stand in a time where the kind of grace we have today was not available to them, then how much more you and I in this dispensation of God’s grace?
For you and I to live untainted and maintain our purity in the campus environment, we need to have solid convictions built on Biblical Principles that we would diligently, undauntedly, and solely stand upon.
But you know dear scholar, that you cannot maintain what you do not have, and therefore, for a person to maintain purity, he/she must have already begun to live the ‘purified life’ i.e a holy life, a life totally free from sin and it’s corruptions, a life in which by the action of God’s grace, where the affections of men are alienated from sin and the world, and exalted to supreme love for God and Godliness.
The work of purity in the heart of man is the gracious work of the Holy Spirit, not of works, growth i.e something you grow into, or attained progressively, by struggle or suppression of sin, but by faith in the sanctifying blood of Christ alone (it happens instantaneously); a work done on those who are already in Christ i.e saved…The question here is, are you saved? Have you truly surrendered your heart to Jesus, sought His forgiveness, forsaken your sins, and now living the new life in Christ? Remember that if you haven’t, today the mercy and Grace of God is available to you, and the Blood of Jesus still cleanses the heart of men from sin and makes them whole…
One of the most complex challenges for Christians is learning how to live in this impure world without allowing the world to live in them…And for the world not to live in you, and for you to live unstained in the campus world and maintain your purity, you need Biblical Principles to sustain you, these principles include:
• Maintaining a constant communication with the Father- (Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.)– By being in constant communication with God, you seek the Grace to maintain purity from His throne of Grace, it also causes you to be constantly conscious of His presence and because God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity (Habakkuk 1:13a) we would always want to stay away from sin to ensure His constant presence with us.
• Reading, Studying, and Meditating, on the Pure and Unchanging Word of God- (Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.) – The word of God hidden in the heart of a man is a shield to preserve his purity. For the word of God to be hidden in the heart of a man, he must go beyond reading it, anybody can read the Bible you know, anyone can also study it, but it takes a man that wants to please God to meditate on His words and for the word to actually carry life with it so that it doesn’t just sounds like a book of historical happenings, the Holy Spirit has to breath on it… Remember to ask that the Holy Spirit breaths on God’s Word everytime before you read it…
• By refusing distractions from the world so as not to lose sight of our eternal objectives- (Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.) The world dangles a lot of things right before our eyes that are glittering but not gold and if your eyes are not fixed on ‘the prize’ you will lose focus, and if your steps are not retrieved on time, you will eventually drift away from God.
• By Growing in your love for God- (Psalms 42:1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?) Ultimately it is genuine love that will motivate the true Christian to keep his garments unsullied from the world…and yes! you can grow in your love for God…Genuine love for God is the greatest compulsion to keeping your heart conducive for His dwelling at all times…
• By surrounding yourself with people that see the issue of maintaining the life of purity as something that should not be trivialised- (Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.) When you surround yourself with people that see the issue of keeping our purity as a really big deal and even go as far as holding you accountable for it, it will help a great deal in helping you maintain your purity.
• By being deliberate about the people and things you allow into your hearts and mind- (Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. ) (Ist Corinthians 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.) To maintain purity, unbelievers cannot be your closest friends. You must learn to relate and interact with them using ‘God-given wisdom’…There’s a saying that goes thus ‘show me your friend and I will tell you who you are’. You might say no, but I am not like them, well it is just a matter of time and you will be exactly like them. And also learn to guard you heart; abstain from everything that would soil your garment of righteousness, anything that looks like sin, and anything that would grieve the Holy Spirit of God in you. Be careful of the things you feed your eyes and ears, the devil uses these channels a lot to cause men to sin against God…
The benefits of maintaining our purity in the campus are numerous… It causes us to become living epistles of the Gospel to our fellow students, we become agents of divine light in a dark world, we get special love and affection springing from the heart of God towards us, answers to prayers, the divine intervention of God in all that concerns our lives, eternity with God, and so much more…
And remember that it is very possible to live and maintain a life of purity in the campus; if God has helped those that have gone before us, He can help us too… (Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.). God’s grace is sufficient for you.
You can be that lily in the mire even today.
God bless you.
