Friday, June 13, 2008
Proverbs 4:18-19 But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.
GEMS FROM PROVERBS - 5
Our proverb describes the whole of our Christian life, of those who are justified by faith in Jesus Christ. Our path is like a way illuminated by the first light of dawn. As we continue down that path it grows brighter and brighter with the light of the rising sun.
Our Christian life begins with the light of the Gospel -- of Christ who is the Light of the world. Our understanding of the Word of God, our knowledge of our Savior, may be dim at first, yet bright enough to walk by. But as we continue to hear the Word and study it, our understanding deepens and the light for our path grows steadily brighter.
And we are heading for the perfect day, the full light of high noon, the resurrection to eternal life. There we shall have perfect knowledge of our God whom we now know only in part. We will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). We will know Him even as now we are known (1 Cor. 13:12). Gone will be the darkness of sin, of doubt, of uncertainty, of fear.
In contrast to all this, the path of the wicked, the unbelieving, is continual, unrelieved darkness. They stumble and fall and do not even know what it was that tripped them. This is a terrible darkness caused by the absence of the Savior in their life. It is a darkness which ends in what our Lord described as "outer darkness," with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The path ahead may seem dark to us because, of course, we do not know what lies on it. But that does not matter because we walk by faith and not by sight, by the light of God's Word rather than natural light. God our Father knows what the path ahead holds, and He will lead us safely through what to us is dark and forbidding.
