No matter how intelligent and freethinking a person thinks he or she is, no one is autonomous. There are so many influences that shape a person’s life and worldview – family life, education, friendships, the media, and the list goes on. There is simply no way around it. Even if a person resists these influences, the very exertion will mold a person. All this is to say that we are built for counsel and this counsel will shape us.

To put it another way, people change. It is like going away to summer camp and returning home to find out that everything seems different, when in fact the only difference is that you have changed. Or it is akin to a young person going off to college and coming home to find out that he or she is no longer the same person.

The psalmist asks a question in 119:9 – How can a young man keep his way pure? His answer is by living according to God’s word. Then he goes on to say that he has sought God with his whole heart (119:10), treasured the word of God in his heart (119:11), spoken of God’s word (119:13), rejoiced in it (119:14), meditated on it (119:115), and delighted in it, lest he forget (119:16).

A pastor once said the Word of God will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from God’s word. There is wisdom in this statement, because we are created for counsel, to be more specific, God’s counsel. If anything should shape us, it should be God’s word. If this does not take place, we will become more like the world around us. However, if we are like the psalmist and delight in God, we will become the very people God created us to be; we will bear the resemblance of Christ increasingly, the perfect word of God.