When I was growing up, my family loved to go camping. We started out in a large tent, progressed to a pop-up trailer, and somewhere in my teenage years we upgraded to a travel trailer. We traveled the entire east coast from Canada to Florida as die-hard campers.

Of all the equipment that is essential for campers, I think the flashlight is probably in the top five. Until we finally reached the luxury of owning a travel trailer that had its own “john,” trips to the loo had to be done on foot. Those trips necessitated a flashlight after dark, lest you trip over a rock. Or a snake. Having a foot lamp was essential in these “essential” matters.

Psalm 119 (New King James Version)

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.

Are you mentally singing, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path?” You are in good company. I can’t read Psalm 119 without Amy Grant singing in my head:

When I feel afraid
Think I’ve lost my way
Still you’re there right beside me
And nothing will I fear
As long as you are near
Please be near me to the end

Isn’t that an incredible thought? God’s Word provides a light in the darkness of life that illuminates the way. It lights our path and keeps us safe. Scripture shows us how to live and move and have our being. But like a flashlight, it only works when we turn it on and use it.

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.

Our lives are continually in God’s hand…but can we join with the Psalmist and say that we have not forgotten God’s law? Can we claim that we have not strayed from God’s precepts? Or has there been a little back-slidin’ going on?

Is God shining his light onto a behavior or attitude today that needs attention? Is your heart wandering away from God’s will?

I will not forget
Your love for me and yet
My heart forever is wandering
Jesus be my guide
And hold me to your side
I will love you to the end

Jesus, hold us to your side! Be our guide. We stumble in the dark without you.

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.

Here’s the good news: every day is a new opportunity to get it right. Every morning when we wake up, God offers us a “do-over.” Perhaps that is the light he is shining onto your path right now.

When we follow the path of repentance to Christ’s offer of forgiveness, we too will be revived according to God’s Word. So turn on your light, and let your light so shine that others might see it and be drawn to the Lord.