A Lamp for the Road

David did not say the Word of God is a floodlight that shows a man the whole highway at once. He said it is a lamp unto his feet — light enough for the step that is right in front of him. That is how God leads His people: not the whole map spread out on the table, but light for tonight's road, and fresh light again tomorrow.

A lamp only helps the man who carries it. The Bible on the shelf lights nothing. The Bible opened at the kitchen table, read slow, prayed over, and obeyed — that is the lamp lit and lifted. Most of the stumbling Christians do is not done in the hard places of life; it is done in the dark places, the small choices nobody sees, where a man walked without his lamp and tripped over what Scripture would have shown him plain.

So take up the Word before you take up the day. Read it until it reads you. Let it settle into the house of your heart and dwell there richly, and you will find that the things which trip other men — the temptation at the corner, the lie everybody is telling, the fear that empties a room — lose their power to trip you. A man full of the Word is a hard man to knock down.

You do not need to see next year. You need light for the next step, and God has promised exactly that. Walk in the light you have, and more will be given.

Lord, light my path with Thy Word today. Show me the next step, and give me grace to take it. Amen.