Proverbs 4:18 NLT
[18] “The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.”
I sit in my lounge every morning, long before daybreak, watching for the first rays of light that promise another new day. When the sky is cloudless, the moonlight and starlight slowly give way to the first rays of sunlight and the glory of the day.
What a picture of our walk with God from the gloom of earthly life to the glory of heaven! In this life, our vision of heaven and eternal life is dimmed by the imperfections we live in, in ourselves and in this fallen world. Heaven seems vague and far away while we struggle to make sense of life down here. We understand little of what God has done, is doing, and what lies ahead for us.
But we have this hope…
1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT
[12] “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”
Like distorted images in a broken mirror, we have distorted visions of our future in God’s presence. The Bible resembles the broken pieces of the mirror. Never do we see a picture of the real thing, just fragments here and there to whet our appetite and make us long for more…
And yet, as we grow older and gain more experience of God’s ways, a clearer picture begins to emerge like the way the growing light of dawn reveals the shapes and colours of things around us ever more clearly.
Sixteem years ago, I prayed David’s prayer, specifically and earnestly…
Psalms 86:11 NIV
[11] “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”
In an older version, the prayer went like this….
“Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth…”
… And for sixteen years, God has been and still is answering my prayer. The older I grow, the brighter the light of revelation and understanding becomes, and the stronger my desire to walk in the truth of the insights of His ways the Holy Spirit gives me.
This Scripture is becoming more real to me as I converse at length with one who refuses to believe the truth and rejects the blessing of life in the care of a heavenly Father who has the perfect solution to every problem and wisdom for every question.
For him, God does not exist. Only as his own intellect attempts to sort out all the threads and
make sense of what is nonsense to him, can he invent a philosophical solution which doesn’t work. His mind is a mess of tangled ideas which need heavy medication to save him from insanity! What a way to live!
Perhaps my greatest discovery on this journey into light is the revelation that God’s way for us to live in this world is VERY SIMPLE. His way consists of two basic prescriptions which the situations and circumstances of our lives flesh out as we travel.
1 John 3:23 NLT
[23] “And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.”
Believing in His name is a call to submit to His absolute authority in all the details of our lives.
John 8:12 NLT
[12]”Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
John 8:31-32, 34-36 NIV
[31]” To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. [32] Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”…
[34] Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. [35] Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. [36] So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Do you get it?
Solomon’s prescription for life is the same,
Proverbs 3:5-8 NLT
[5] “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. [6] Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. [7] Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. [8] Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.”
Loving one another is the natural outflow of believing in His name. With Jesus at the helm, His example and His power in us, the resident Holy Spirit, enables us to do what He does, to love one another.
John 13:34-35 NLT
[34]”So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. [35] Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
That’s it! Simple! And, as we follow these instructions, our understanding of His ways grows clearer as surely as the dawn promises the brightness of a new day.