The Lamp

November 5

Ezekiel 14-16

Psalm 119:105-112

Proverbs 26:20-22

Hebrews 12:4-13

The Lamp

“Your Word is a lamp for my feet, and a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105 NIV

When I was a teenager, every summer my youth group went to church camp at Camp Chula Vista in Pell City, Alabama. I have so many wonderful memories from camp: canoeing on the lake, playing tetherball, singing worship songs in the pavilion, eating surprisingly good camp food, playing Take a Hike for hours after evening worship, and growing in my faith. One of the things I remember about the camp was the cabins. There was a girl’s hill and a boy’s hill which were separated by the lake, a pavilion, a dining hall, a swimming pool, and a long walk. They did everything they could to keep the teenage boys far away from the teenage girls. As an adult I now understand why that was so necessary. On each hill there were several cabins in the woods and a bath house in the middle with showers and bathrooms. The cabins did not have bathrooms. At 11:00pm the counselors turned the lights out in all the cabins. No exceptions. There were no lights on the hill except those lights in the cabins. As you can imagine, it was very dark in the woods. After 11, if you had to go to the bathroom, you had to walk in the dark. It was the woods, so there were sticks and rocks and limbs on the ground. One of the things on the packing list to take to camp was always a flashlight.

I remember Camp Chula Vista whenever I read this verse. I think of those summer nights making my way to the bathroom in the dark with my flashlight. God’s Word provides us the light we need to find our way in the dark. If we follow its principles, we can avoid a lot of the obstacles in our path. Instead of tripping over the rocks, we see the dangers in front of us and we can walk around them. Many problems we face come from ignoring the guidelines God has provided for us. The other issue with walking to the bathroom in the dark was the danger of the creatures that occupied the woods. There were all sorts of creepy crawly things that came out at night. My greatest fear was stepping on a snake or getting attacked by some other wild animal. In 1980, Friday the 13th came out in theaters so that added a whole new level of fear about the dangers that lurked in the darkness. God’s Word protects us from a lot of the evil and scary things we face in the world. God is our refuge and protection. He gives us the strength to face the evil around us and not be led astray by it. From the cabin I was not able to see the bathhouse. I knew the general direction I was supposed to go, but it was too dark to see the building. My flashlight did not provide enough light to see the whole way. It gave me the light I needed to take the next step and then the next step until I reached my destination. God’s Word is like that, too. God rarely illuminates our whole way at once. We know the general direction we are supposed to go, but we can’t see the ending. He gives us the light we need and the guidance to take the next step and then the next step until we reach the goal. His Word is a lamp and a light to illumine our path if we use it.