Lightning flashed across the fields, followed by booming thunder. “Here we go again,” I cried as electric power to our old farmhouse went dead, plunging us into a pitch-black background. As a youth, I often held my breath in the eerie darkness as I listened for sounds of Mama fumbling around to light an oil lamp.

When she set the shining lamp on a high stand, rays of light would penetrate the darkness bringing great relief to my troubled imagination. The lamp from the stand cast a shadowy glow into the next room, providing me just enough security to tag along with Mama as she went throughout the house lighting the rest of the lamps.

“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light” (Luke 11:33). The Bible declares in Psalms 119:130 that the entrance of God’s Word brings light—understanding for the simple! When Christ lit the light of the Gospel, He put it on a lampstand for all to see. He did not preach from a secret chamber, but broadcast the warmth of His light for all to receive His deliverance from darkness. But will all receive His light?

“The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness” (vs. 34). On those dark stormy nights at the farm, if I had kept my eyes tightly closed, no light would have entered my physical eyes. Likewise, if my spiritual eyes are squinted shut, if I refuse to receive the light of His Word, then I am spiritually blind and full of spiritual darkness. This darkness represents lack of understanding and poor spiritual judgment.

If we have good spiritual eyes—minds that will allow the entrance of God’s Word—our whole spiritual being will be filled with the light of God. He gives us understanding and the ability to discern between good and evil.

The Bible clearly teaches we become what we behold! If we concentrate on the carnal world, we can count on bad spiritual eyesight and minds overshadowed by spiritual darkness. In sharp contrast, if we focus our eyes on God’s Word—meditating on the character of Christ and the plan our loving Heavenly Father has for our lives—God will fill our minds with His light of spiritual understanding.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119:105). Aren’t you glad that we have God’s Word as our guide? Let the light in! If you follow it, you can be sure that He will show you the path of life and you will find joy in His Presence forevermore.

Thank You, Jesus, for lighting my lamp! Thank You for delivering me from darkness! I saw the light, and it was good!

J.D. Quinn