Christian Living

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Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalms 119:105


Have you ever had to cross a room with many obstacles, just after you turn out the lights? If you pay attention before you flip the switch, you can negotiate the room with little trouble. However, if you don’t, you wind up stubbing your toe on the coffee table. God’s Word is this way. It lights our minds while we walk in the dark.

We as Christians spend most of our days walking in the darkness of this world. Many of the people we deal with every day are probably not Christ-followers, and much of the things we are exposed to are not godly. Consequently, reading our Bibles can be like focusing on the obstacles in a room before we turn out the light. We can then embark on our daily journeys with the lamp of God’s Word lighting our paths.

Let me say first off that I am not as avid a reader of my Bible as I should be. I am not known for my discipline in many areas of my life, but when I have stuck to a schedule of reading and studying scripture, God has blessed me tremendously. In fact, the Bible had a large part in leading me to Christ.

In April of 1989, I was deep into eastern religions (this after years of being an atheist). At that time, I decided to read a Bible. My goal was to prove to myself how wrong Christianity was. I bought “The Book” with the Living Bible translation. In the introduction, the editor recommended that a person new to the Bible read Mark, Acts, Romans, and Genesis. I followed his advice and continued with other books of the Bible. By August of that year, God had changed me. He took a stubborn narrow-minded atheist/new ager, and made me a Christian.

I spend a great deal of time searching for answers to my struggles to live a Christ-like life. I read books about ten steps to a more disciplined prayer life; or one hundred and one ways to study God’s word; or be spiritual in thirty days or less, but needless to say none seem to do what they promise. The Bible, on the other-hand, does exactly what God promises. It is God’s communication to our hearts, and we change more by listening to Him than to those who would give us step by step training.

I must emphasize that there are wonderful Christian authors out there. I would like to be one myself. They can help you to understand many parts of being a believer, but I suggest that you do not let them interfere with your time in God’s Word.

Many times God’s silence in my life has made me feel alone. I suffer from a constant need to know that He is there for me. There have even been times when I barely feel like a Christian. All of these times I have been away from His Word. He is not silent; I have just not been listening. Every time I have seriously sat down and read the Bible, God has given me some insight into our relationship. Often it may be a small thing, but it is always a process of growing to know Him.

I stub my toe daily as a Christ-follower, and every time I do, the Holy Spirit reminds me that I have to illuminate my path with God’s Word before heading out into the darkness. Negotiating the obstacles in the world has often been painful, but God has been utterly patient with me.

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