Several years ago my wife and I attended a minister's banquet. The meal was set up buffet-style, but the dining room was unusually dark, and the serving area was dimly lit. As we went through the line, I got a piece of chicken, mashed potatoes, and covered the potatoes with a healthy serving of brown gravy. Once we were seated I took a huge bite of my potatoes and gravy - and immediately got a return on my investment. It turned out that what I thought was brown gravy was actually apple butter. I learned two valuable lessons that night:
1) If you ever get a chance to put apple butter on your mashed potatoes, don't.
2) Eating in the dark can be hazardous to your taste buds.
Thinking back on that evening I'm reminded of Psalm 119:105 which says this:
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."
Many times we "stumble in the dark" trying to figure out the will of God for our lives. I believe that we sometimes make that search more difficult than it really needs to be. His word - the Bible - is "a lamp to our feet and a light to our path." What that means is simple: His word will show us where to go and how to get there. Yes, each of us has specific callings on our lives that only we can fulfill, but that aspect of God's will can't be revealed to us if we aren't walking in the relationship that is His will for ALL of us. We all have a destiny before us, but that destiny is revealed as we walk in obedience to His word. Allow me to be blunt: we can't walk in obedience to His word until we know it, and we can't know His word if we never open it up and see what it has to say to us. Trying to live for God without learning and applying His word to our lives is a futile endeavor. Some say, "I'm too busy to read that much." Well, allow me to be even more blunt: if we spend 30 minutes a day (or more) before a TV, we have time to read the word of God. We don't lack time; we lack priorities.
I know I may be coming off a little strong this week, but this is burning on my heart: the church (especially here in America) needs a renewed commitment to God's word. We need to know WHAT we believe and WHY we believe it. Yes, I absolutely want to fulfill the calling and destiny that God specifically has for me. Yes, I fully believe that the Holy Spirit still speaks and leads God's people as we follow Him. But I also know that what is written in Scripture is His will for my life as well. We need to live lives that model the power of Scripture. His word is indeed a light and a lamp, and in these spiritually dark times we need to walk in His light more than ever. If you want to know God's will for your life, open your Bibles and allow Him to tell you. As we allow Him to speak to us through His word, the direction we seek will be brighter as that lamp and light shines around us and in us.
(And for the record, never EVER put apple butter on your mashed potatoes. Trust me - you won't like it.)
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