Geoff LaLone
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”
Psalm 119:105
Last summer, on account of a ridiculously busy schedule, I occasionally found myself cutting the lawn in the dark. It wasn’t something I set out to do; it just happened. There would be plenty of light when I started, but by the time I was through, it was nearly impossible to tell where I had mowed and where I hadn’t. To lessen my chances of missing a spot here and there, I would tie a flash light to the front of my mower, or try to hold it between my knees. It helped, but was a less-than-perfect solution.
Wanting to avoid a similar situation this summer, in early spring I purchased and installed a 5-Light LED fixture on my mower’s front bumper, then ran a wire to a switch I had mounted on the panel where my ignition and throttle were located. I immediately began looking forward to my first opportunity to try it out, but no such opportunity came. All spring and into summer, much to my disappointment, I somehow avoided putting myself in a situation where the light would be required. I began to feel like installing the light was nothing more than a big waste of time and money. Then finally, this past Monday, I got my chance. One of the belts on my mower broke while I was in the middle of the job and by the time I picked up a new one and put it on, it was nearly 9:00. Knowing I now had a light on my mower, it didn’t bother me one bit. By 9:45 I was done, and the yard has never looked better. My light worked perfectly!
In Psalm 119, the psalmist refers to God’s word as “a lamp to his feet and a light to his path.” Walking through this world of darkness without stumbling and making a major mess out of our lives, is impossible without the light of God’s word. Even more so than trying to cut your lawn in the dark without the assistance of any kind of light to guide you. Unfortunately, we don’t always realize how much we need the light of God’s word until the darkness envelops us.
Not all of our walking through this world is in total darkness. Much of the time we may find it easy to see the things that can trip us up or cause us pain, so we can avoid them on our own. This leads us to think the light of God’s word isn’t necessary and we begin to feel we are wasting our time by reading it. But nothing could be further from the truth. We never know when life circumstances can plunge us into greater levels of darkness than we have ever known. When that happens, we will want to be prepared. We will want to have the light of God’s word to guide us. So make reading God’s word a daily activity, even when walking seems easy, so that when you find yourself in darkness, you'll be ready.