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You are to "take heed." Look at the pilot at the helm, when he is steering the vessel, in the storm, amidst the rocks: what is he doing? "Taking heed." He is all eye, all sensibility, all intelligence, as to the position in which he stands. That is "taking heed." Look at the sentinel, walking his weary round, when he knows that the enemy is at hand. Hearken to his footsteps; why, they seem to be but the echo of the man's sensibility of alarm and of danger. He is "taking heed." And you are to "take heed to your way." What did God give you faculties for, but to be employed? You have the faculty for observation: employ it. You have the faculty for examination: employ it. You have the faculty for reflection: employ it. You have the power of "taking heed": employ it. And recollect that no man can do this for you. It is to be done individually, vigilantly; you, as a man alive to your danger, are to enact the part of the pilot amidst the rocks. And doing this "according to God's Word," you shall not "labour in vain, nor spend your strength for nought." You can discern between good and evil, you know what is offensive, and you know what is pleasing to God; you know what you must do to be saved; you know that yonder is a scene of profligacy and vice, and that here is an opportunity for serving and worshipping God; you know that there is a literature which is saturated with all manner of ungodliness, and that here lies a Book which will lead you to "glory, honour, immortality, and eternal life." "Take heed," then; and "take heed," "according to God's Word." When your vigilance is once excited, and your mind is all in action, and you leave your house of business, and are plied with all manner of fascinations, "take heed" what you are about; but be sure to "take heed" according to the requirements, the directions, the expostulations, the promises of God's Word. To "take heed" according to the maxims of the world, or the suggestions of fashion, would only be to mock your misery, and accelerate your downfall; but "taking heed according to God's Word," that Word being hid away in your hearts, for constant and appropriate use, you will be able to say with a voice which he will be forced to listen to, "Get thee behind me, Satan," and to "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ shall make you free." But this requires attention, diligence, and personal effort. How will God's Word enable you to take heed? You must get it into your memories, it must be associated with your recollections, it must be ready whenever you want it, your hearing of it having been mixed with faith; and when it has thus been lodged and assimilated there, it will be "the sword of the Spirit," "the Word of God."

(W. Brock.)

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KJV: BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

WEB: How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.