THE LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD

Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

I have taken an oath and confirmed it,

that I will follow Your righteous laws.

The unfolding of Your Word gives light;

it gives understanding to the simple.

Psalms 119:105, 106 &130

I was at an SU East Asia Youth Ministry Consultation a couple of years back.  On the opening night, after the introductory talk; there was an activity where we went outdoors.  We were told to walk single-filed, into the thick of the darkness; where the participants were “dropped off” one by one as the rest continued.  The “dropped off” participants were given a lit candle each.  We had about 15-20 minutes of solitude (which seemed like eternity), with a small flickering light (which was nothing in the midst of the dense darkness), to do a bit of reflection…  It was there that the thoughts below first came to me.  And, I have put further thinking on them regularly…

What lights fill the lives of our children, youth and adults today?  The colorful light from the TV sets in our homes…  The monotonous light from the computer monitors…  The dim light from our mobile phones…  The throbbing light at discos, pubs and clubs…  The romantic light from candles at fanciful meals… The flickering light of the cigarette lighters or matchsticks…

Indeed these lights are very captivating lights, enticing and alluring in fact.  But these lights can actually lead us to darkness, especially when people become obsessed.  We erroneously think that only the unchurched have fallen into these snares.  But really, Christians are not exempted.  When Jesus the Life and Light enters into our hearts, He also calls us to be the light of the world.  The Psalmist has also affirmed God’s eternal Word as an irreplaceable guiding light for us.  And so, we as the people of God must unceasingly allow the light of His Word to shine into our lives; so that we are enabled and empowered to effectively and meaningfully shine for Him!

We can have a house with a 1000 lights connected to an electrical power source and yet struggle in darkness, if we do not turn on the switches.  We can have a 1000 candles together with matches and yet have no light, if we do not lit up the candles.  This is precisely what the Psalmist meant when he wrote, “The unfolding of Your Word gives light…”

The light of God’s Word will only shine on us when the Scriptures are unfolded (New International Version).  When the Word of God enters (King James Version) our lives through our regular reflections; and/or is opened (American Standard Version) in our daily quiet time and we understand (Contemporary English Version) the reading; and/or is explained (Good News Bible) and taught (New Living Translation) through preaching and Bible studies; then and only then will our lives will be illuminated.  The most popular version (or translation) of the Bible is none of those mentioned in this paragraph.  The most common version many Christians have is actually the NRV… the Never Read Version!  The NRV Bible will never give us any light!

Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church today…

IMPORTANT NOTES:

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Please note that the views and opinions expressed in this article may not necessarily reflect those of the Christian organization Jason works in, nor the church or denomination he belongs to.