Daily Devotion, March 16, 2022

 

Devotion:

Read Psalm 119:105.

What a joy to be with our church’s third-graders and their families as they received their Bibles! How does one express in a few brief sentences the treasure this will be forever in their lives? Psalm 119:105 summarizes it well, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” 

There are two metaphors here. The first is that God's written word is described as a lamp and a light. And the second is that a life of faith is described as a journey of our feet on the path.

Have you ever tried to walk very far in the dark? It sure helps to have a light for each step. God’s written word gives light to who God is and God’s covenant story with humankind. God’s written word gives nourishment for our souls and guides the steps of our pathways today. And God’s written word enables us to follow God’s way and will.

Jesus understood and declared this in his response quoting from the Old Testament, to the devil’s temptation in Matthew 4:4, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Scriptures are the written revelation of God and Jesus is the living revelation of God. Both are referred to as “The Word of God.” John 1:1, 14 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Rev. Adam Hamilton in his book, The Walk, Five Essential Practices of the Christian Life writes, “The most definitive way in which God has revealed God’s own self to the world is in Jesus…Jesus is God’s Word, God’s message, wrapped in human flesh.”

The Word that is written is the Scriptures. The Word that is living is Jesus Christ. We need both on our journey of faith to light our path.

Personal Worship Option:

Dear God, help me to treasure your written Word and Jesus, your living Word, with the exuberance of the third-graders receiving their new Bibles! Truly, let your written Word and your living Word be a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. Amen.