I groaned. My Roku had stopped working again and so I was standing by my tv trying to reset it by unplugging it and then plugging it in again. Seems so simple, doesn’t it? I figured I could do such a small thing without light, right?
Wrong.
I couldn’t see a thing. The tv was in a dark-ish room and set in a cavity painted black that sits above our fireplace. And so I thought I’d let my fingers “do the walking” and tried to just “feel” where to put the plug in. Have you been there? Trying to put any plug in without being able to see often leads to frustration.
After a few frustrating moments I decided life is just too short for this and went to get my phone and turned on the flashlight. That little bit of light made short work of putting that roku back where it belonged.
What a wonderful picture of what the Bible does for us. Whether we are growing frustrated and anxious in the dark path we are traveling personally or the overall darkness of this world that is descending like a thick blanket on all our paths. No matter where we live there is no shortage of darkness. Illness and death, financial woes with the growing inflation, compromised churches and Christian organizations, corrupt governments, the growing wickedness and occultism in the culture; sometimes these things make it too dark to see.
Unless…
We have the Bible. God has told us that this is the light He has given us for the dark path we must travel through life—
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)
The Bible fills us with confidence in our Great God as we get to know Him through His Word. It tells us of His love for us and gives the way for eternal salvation through His Son, Jesus.
We find within its pages many wonderful promises of the grace, mercy, and lovingkindness that will be shed on us, as a believer, as we travel any path in this life. Some paths we choose but many we do not. God’s mercy will follow us wherever we go.
The Bible gives us the light of truth. Only by knowing what it says, can we protect ourselves from the deception and lies that are snowballing out of control.
It gives us His plan for the future, which, if we take it literally, sheds so much light on both historical events, as well as the events happening right now in our world.
And the Bible gives us eternal perspective. It reminds us that we are but pilgrims and strangers passing through a foreign land. This world is not our home.
It’s important to note that the verse above does not declare that God’s Word is a giant spotlight on the whole world, filling it with light. It is just a small lamp, shedding light one step at a time on the path of the believer.
While the Bible could conceivably light up anyone’s path, most of those in this world will never repent of their sins and turn to Christ alone for salvation. Unless we do this, we can read the Bible all we want but it will be like holding a flashlight but never turning it on. We cannot understand God’s Holy Word without the Holy Spirit. And we cannot have the help of the Holy Spirit without salvation.
If a small flashlight can make such a huge difference when trying to plug something in in the dark, how much more of a difference will the Bible make in our lives? If we’d but just treasure and use this lamp that God has given us specifically to light our paths.
If we have trusted Christ alone for our salvation, may we keep the light God has given us ever near as the darkness descends around us. For it is the only light we have as we travel in this dreary land.
AMEN!