Overcoming Sin

I had a great time with the 'Saints Alive' and 'SayIt' youth groups last night and thought I'd post the quote I shared with them. For a long time I had wrestled with how to understand Psalm 119:32,
"I will run in the way of your commandments
when you enlarge my heart."

Then, while reading Overcoming Sin and Temptation, which is a recent compilation of three classic books by John Owen (1616-1683) edited by Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor, I came across this passage in Kapic's introduction:

"To respond to the distorting nature of sin you must set your affections on the beauty and glory of God, the loveliness of Christ, and the wonder of the gospel: [Kapic then quotes Owen:] 'Were our affections filled, taken up, and possessed with these things... what access could sin, with its painted pleasures, with its sugared poisons, with its envenomed baits, have unto our souls?' Resisting sin, [according to Owen], comes not by deadening your affections but by awakening them to God himself. Do not seek to empty your cup as a way to avoid sin but rather seek to fill it up with the Spirit of Life, so there is no longer room for sin."

Psalm 119:32 made complete sense in the light of Owen's skillful insight.