"Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105 (ESV)
Imagine you're in a forest, and you've lost your way. Thankfully it's not yet time for the sun to set, so you start looking for the path you had originally ventured on. As you continue walking, the sun begins to set, and your eyes slowly adjust to the darkness around you, until suddenly you are enveloped in the blackness of the night time. You don't really notice right at first, until you realize that you seem to be tripping quite a lot. You start to freak out, and wonder why on earth you can't see anything. Now let me ask you: Why don't you turn your flashlight on?
The Word of God is not only our sword for combat as we read about in Ephesians, but it is also a lamp for our feet. Today I was doing some study in Psalm 119, and it talks a lot about the Law, how important God's words are to us, and the dangers of being around those that will cause us to stray from it. I'm sure you've heard verse 105 before, and there's even a song about it that many of you may know. But sometimes we can get so caught up in serving Christ, that we forget to use our Light, and then wonder why we're still stumbling around! The Bible was given to us so that we can see all of the stumbling blocks and hurdles in front of us, and avoid them. Have you ever been walking around your house at night and hit your shin on some furniture? That could have easily been avoided. had you just turned on a light! The same applies to the Word of God. If we don't want to hit our spiritual shins on the coffee table, then turn on your light! Study His words, and apply them to your life. Watch where you're going; because while our bruises on our legs may heal, they can take us out completely in terms of our spiritual lives if we aren't watching out for them. "Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'" (John 8:12)
Sometimes, when I start to think about life, and I start to consider a lot of things. I am reminded of just how true it is, that God's Word is our light. Let me ask you something: have you ever known someone who fell away from Christ, who read their Bibles daily in an unbiased way? Have you ever known someone who fell away from Christ, who was faithful to Him, and who did their best to keep His Law? Of course not. And if they used to be that way, the only reason they aren't faithful now is because they stopped. They started making excuses, and they turned off their flashlights, and they expected to walk around in the dark without tripping on something. Now maybe you can go on in the darkness for a couple feet. Maybe a yard and a half at the most. But you will never get far. Once you turn off the light, once you stop looking towards God, you will stumble, and you will fall. And until you turn your light back on, there's no hope for you. "If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." (1 John 16)
Today I would like to encourage you to look to Christ and His Word as your light in this dark, dark world. Read daily, and study as often as you read. It can be very easy to get caught up in the thought process that going to worship on Sundays, going to all of the events, teaching Bible class, etc, is enough. But plants can't grow without light, and neither can we.
