After I parked the company car at the construction site, I grabbed my pencil, clipboard, and hard hat. I worked for an electric utility, and I was meeting a plant engineer and plant manager about their company’s expansion. They were moving to a twenty-four-hour-a-day operation, and they wanted to discuss the location and layout of the area lights for their new parking lot.
I took notes as the plant engineer showed me the proposed plans. I explained that the placement and number of the area lights depended on how much light they wanted. At that point, the plant manager interrupted and said, “I want enough light so that my employees could read a newspaper at midnight if they wanted to. I want them to feel safe and secure no matter how dark or how stormy it gets out here.” I was impressed by the plant manager’s concern for his employees, and later he approved the layout of fixtures that gave them the light they needed.
There is no question that we need ample amounts of physical light to walk without fear of stumbling in this world. Just as we need physical light to see and to get where we want to go, we also need the light of God’s Word to walk in the way of abundance and power as His sons. I John 1:5 tells us, “…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” God, Who is Light, has provided for us His Word, which enlightens our eyes and illuminates the paths we walk in so that we can walk in fellowship with Him.
As we keep our eyes focused on His Word by our faithful reading and studying of it, we can walk as children of light with confidence and without fear. We walk as children of light by walking in the light of His Word. And as we walk in the light of His Word, we can be radiant, looking for opportunities to shine as lights by holding forth the Word.
The Word—Our Lamp and Our Light
The great Book of Ephesians is a Church Epistle. It is addressed to the “saints” and to the “faithful in Christ Jesus.” In chapter 5, God exhorts His faithful saints to walk as children of light.
Ephesians 5:8:
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.
Before we were born again, we were without the light of God’s Word, and we walked in darkness. Because of the accomplishments of Jesus Christ and by our believing of Romans 10:9 and 10, we are sons of God, having His gift of holy spirit. And as His sons, we walk in fellowship with our heavenly Father by walking in the light of His revealed Word.
I John 1:7:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
We are now light in the Lord, and we can walk as children of light by walking in the light of His Word.
Let’s look at some of the many wonderful scriptures showing how God’s Word gives us light, enabling us to walk in fellowship with Him as His children.
Psalms 119:130:
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
It is the Word of God that gives light and gives understanding to the simple. The word “simple” in this verse means “purehearted,” like a child who is eager to learn. As children of light, we eagerly go to God’s Word with a pure heart—we read it, we study it, and we put it on in our minds. When we do, the light of God’s Word gives us understanding.
Psalms 119:105:
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Just as we need physical light to see where to walk, we need the light of God’s Word to walk as children of light. It is the Word that is to be both our lamp and light.
Psalms 19:8:
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The statutes of the Lord are right and rejoice the heart. The Word also enlightens our eyes. The word “enlightening” here means giving light as the sun. Physically we need light to see, and spiritually with the light of God’s Word we can see clearly where to walk as children of light.
A few years ago when I lived in North Carolina, there was a jogging trail close to my house that wound its way through a beautifully wooded area. One morning after a summer storm, I got up early to run. The farther I ran down the trail, the more fallen tree limbs and branches I found in the path. Some of the fallen branches were just twigs, so I could jump right over them. Other branches were larger; I had to run around them, but I could still stay on the path. As I rounded one bend, there was a fallen limb so large that I had to stop and leave the path completely to get around it.
Avoiding the obstacles in the path was not difficult because I had an abundance of light and I stayed focused. In spite of the obstacles, because I had light, I could complete my morning run, and I came home refreshed and invigorated.
With an abundance of physical light, we can see the path ahead and proceed with confidence and safety, even if there are obstacles. Likewise, as we read and study God’s Word faithfully, we will have an abundance of God’s Word in our minds to enlighten our path. Then we can walk in fellowship with Him with confidence and assurance.…
This is an excerpt from the July/August 2008 issue of The Way Magazine.
Copyright© 2008 by The Way International. All rights reserved.
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