4 June | EVERYONE

HOW YOUNG PEOPLE CAN HAVE INTEGRITY

«Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.» Psalm 119: 11

He had just been released from the prison where he had spent three days, and he was walking in shame, his hands in the pockets of his stinking, worn-out denim coat. His eyes surrounded by grotesque dark circles and his messy hair reflected his dejected spirit. As he lost himself in the crowd in the center of the city, he repeated to himself, over and over again, as if he wanted to punish himself with the words: “You deserved it, you deserved it. You reaped what you sowed.”

Three days in prison is not much. There are people who spend years there because of an act of madness. There are also those who pay with their lives for the consequences of their sinful behavior. But Leo was barely a young man of twenty and had all the future in his hands; Of course, he needed to grow in wisdom.

His life changed courses because on a gray night in February he found Jesus. It was almost accidental. Leo was walking with his head down when a piece of paper thrown on the floor caught his eye, he bent down parsimoniously, picked it up and was struck by the phrase written in capital letters: “Jesus is the only way out.”

He needed a way out. He was confused in a tangle of roads that were leading to his death. Each of them brought him nothing but sadness and disenchantment. He suffered and tormented himself with the decisions he made, but he did not see a glimpse of hope. But perhaps now he had it in front of him: that piece of paper also announced a meeting for Bible study. Leo did not think twice. That evening he attended the meeting and was fascinated with truths he had never heard of.

Today, that young man who walked around on a grey night in February frustrated with life is a successful engineer. And if you ask him what happened, he will answer, “I have kept the words of the Lord in my heart.”

Take Action

Treasure the gospel message of God’s Word and you will be guided by the example and teachings of Jesus. Sing “Your Word in My Heart” (if possible, with your family).