enough light

Psalm 119:105–112 NKJV
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
106 I have sworn and confirmed That I will keep Your righteous judgments.
107 I am afflicted very much; Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
108 Accept, I pray, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, And teach me Your judgments.
109 My life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts.
111 Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, For they are the rejoicing of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, to the very end.

I used to be a Boy Scout.  My troop was a camping troop, which meant that we went camping one weekend a month.  Our adult leaders decided that we would also be a “primitive camping” troop, which meant that we trained and practiced camping without the usual comforts.

• Sometimes matches and other fire starting implements were not allowed.  Everyone had to use flint and steel to start every fire.
• Sometimes we could not bring tents.  We had to build our own lean-tos out of branches.  When we had to do this, it seemed like it always rained.
• Sometimes we could only bring what would fit in a ten pound back pack.
• One thing I don´t ever remember being forced to leave behind is a flashlight.

I do, however, remember forgetting my flashlight once.  I could not have chosen a worse time.  It was a camp out that preceded my induction into The Order of the Arrow, an honor organization for Scouting.

It was one of those “ten pound pack” only trips.  Somehow, I failed to pack my flashlight.  I did not know I had forgotten until after a five mile night hike, a Senior Scout caught me by the shoulder and shoved me into the woods.  He said, “Walk 20 yards and make your camp there.”

I stepped into the thick undergrowth and felt my way about five yards in.  There I stopped and waited for the rest of the scouts to move on down the path as the Senior Scouts directed the others to their camping place.  Each of us was alone in the woods.

I dug in my pack for my flashlight.  That is when I discovered it was not there.  If the moon was shining, I couldn´t tell.  The trees, bushes, and vines seemed woven into an impenetrable mat.

When I realized that I had failed to bring a flashlight, I was petrified.  I was, however, also determined to make it through the night without calling out for help.  “Surviving” the night in total silence, alone in the woods in your own camp was a requirement for being inducted into The Order of the Arrow.  I wanted in, and I made up my mind to do it.

I did, but it was indescribably difficult.  I walked the 20 yards in, feeling my way.  I tied my poncho to branches to make a makeshift tent.  I pulled out my bedding and went to sleep on the leaves.  I was never so glad to see the light of morning!

The situation caused me to think about the poor souls that are totally blind.  They cannot see the light nor anything illuminated by the light.

Those who are spiritually blind are in even worse shape. 

• They cannot see or know the Lord who is the Light of the World. 
• They cannot know if they walk the right or the wrong path.
• They do not read, study, or believe the Word of God which is as David said, “A lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Even some Christians, although they have trusted the Lord, live on occasions in spiritual blindness,

• Not because they are incapable of reading the Word
• But because they are unwilling.

The Word of God is like a lamp, it illuminates our immediate surroundings so we know where we are.  It lights the next step or two of the path we are walking in the dark.

How sad to be in the middle of dark woods and not have a light.

​How much greater is the sadness of not reading and believing the Word of the Lord and walking day by day in darkness rather than the light.

EMAIL BRO. MIKE