Darkness and Light

The Amazing Joanne and I went camping last week for a short vacation.  One of the shocking parts of camping in a state park is how dark it is at night, with no bright streetlights around.  We saw stars -- formations like the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, O'Ryan's Belt (he was the first Irishman in space, by the way), and thousands of others.  That was the fun part.  The difficult part was walking to the potty in the middle of the night.  That same darkness became a hazard, because there were rocks to trip over and stickleburrs that we wanted to avoid.  So we turned on the lantern and walked in its light.

Which reminded us, of course, of Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path."  How do we see that "light" of the Word?  Here are some common approaches:

• The Bible is the instruction book for life; so you should look up the verse that tells you what decision to make or that answers your question.  --This approach unconsciously treats the Bible like a buffet, where we can go in and take just the foods we want, and all we need to do is find the right verse to apply to our questions.
• The Bible is a set of laws and principles that will guide us, although it doesn't always contain an exact instruction for each situation, but we should follow God's laws for a successful life and to avoid sin.  --This approach unconsciously sees God as some sort of rule-giver, like a supervisor at work or in a boarding school, laying down the law and punishing us for getting out of line. 
• The Bible is an ancient book of wisdom and we can learn from it, but it's not authoritative.  --This tells us that we are the superior beings, and the Bible is something we can take or leave at our discretion. 

Each of these approaches is fatally flawed because it leaves you and me as the authority in how (or even whether) to interpret and apply the scripture. 

Here's a better way:  The living Word of God, Jesus Christ, is the One to whom this verse points. (I've written about that in previous weeks).  So how do we read "Your word is a light to guide my feet and a light for my path"?  That the whole Bible, as the inspired written revelation of God, tells us who God is and what he is like, most particularly and clearly in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ himself.  That we look to Jesus, in the Gospel accounts and in the other writings, to understand our relationship to God through him, being adopted into the life and love of God (Eph. 1:3-5) and being filled with Christ (Col. 1:27).  That light in us, Christ himself, is the Lamp for our feet.  "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." (John 8:12). 

Let's follow him, being filled with him, and let his Light guide us.