Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
– Psalm 119:105
A few weeks ago I mentioned my former hobby of caving. The equipment needed for this activity is fairly simple, things like a rugged set of coveralls, knee pads, leather gloves, and a reliable source of light. Among my caving companions, the most popular main source of light was the carbide lamp. Most people would think of it as a miner’s lamp. The device has a lower chamber in which calcium carbide is placed. The upper chamber is filled with water. When the water drips onto the carbide, acetylene gas is produced, which fuels a flame at the front of the lamp. A metal reflector directs the light forward. Mounted on the front of a hardhat, the lamp shines wherever a person’s head is turned. Through the years, my carbide lamp was a resource for hundreds of hours of underground navigation.
Without a source of light, moving through a cave can be quite difficult, even perilous. It is not like getting up in your bedroom at night without turning on a bedside lamp. The greatest risk there is crunching your toe on the footboard of the bed. In a cave the terrain is irregular. In any given passage the walls could narrow, sometimes sharply. The ceiling moves up and down without warning, which can ring your head even when wearing protective gear. Even the floor of the passage can be irregular; at any point it could drop off into a crevice. Add to all of this the significantly increased risk of getting lost, given that you would be completely incapable of seeing any clues indicating which way you need to go. In preparing for a cave adventure, you would take great care in preparation to make sure you would not be left without a source of light.
With that in mind, reflect on this familiar verse of the psalms. How effectively can we navigate life without a source of light? Honestly, not very well. We need the illumination that light provides. Light shows us what we need to know, where to put our feet when walking and what dangers might be lying in our path. The psalmist understands this important truth: the Word of the Lord is light. It conveys to us the wisdom of God that is utterly necessary for prosperous living. Without it our lives are misinformed. Our steps are directed by our own selfish desires. Without light we would struggle at best to walk within God’s blessing. Without light we are left helpless in the face of the perilous temptations that fill our days. Only the light of God leads us in the everlasting way.
It should be no surprise that our reflection on light ultimately comes around to Jesus. The Gospel of John gives us some great scripture on this.
“In (Jesus) was life, and the life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:4-5).
“…he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God” (John 3:21).
“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life’” (John 8:12).
Jesus IS the light. Follow him; walk in light. Turn from him and lose your way. Set your eyes on his life, his teaching, his mercy, and you will have wisdom for living. Wise men followed a star to get to Jesus. I can’t think of anything more appropriate! Let him be your star, your true and faithful source of light.
I want to walk as a child of the light
I want to follow Jesus
God sent the stars to give light to the world
The star of my life is Jesus
– Kathleen Thomerson
The Winding Path 