Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalms 119:105

Not so long ago, a cousin of mine was caught in an elevator during a power outage.

He told me about the sickening jolt of the car when things stopped, and they were thrown into pitch blackness.

The reaction of the seven folks caught in the elevator was predictable. They all started talking, shouting for someone to push the buttons, to use the emergency phone, to call the fire department. He said that everyone began to move around to make sure they didn’t touch anyone or get touched.

Then, after a few minutes had passed, one of the passengers remembered the tiny flashlight he carried on his keychain.

With the push of a button, a small, amber light filled the elevator car.

Just as a little child relaxes when a night light is turned on in his bedroom so, too, these adults, helped by the most insignificant of LED lights, found their fears had disappeared with the darkness. For the next 45 minutes, they laughed at their fate, shared stories, and a little bit of history about themselves.

In our earthly world that is the power of light.

When He walked among us, Jesus said He was “the Light of the world” (see John 8:12).

In our world where illumination takes place with the flip of a switch, we often forget the powerful impact and import of those divine words. We forget just how dark things can be. Mainly, we forget that without the Savior we were all condemned to live in perpetual darkness. Without the forgiveness He has won for all of humanity, the blackness of our sin would be and remain all-encompassing.

Even worse, that darkness was damning.

It was damning, but no longer. That is because Jesus came into this world to be our light.

He not only illuminates our many transgressions and temptations, He also shows how the Lord — in His grace and through His sacrifice — has taken away those sins. Now we who are forgiven and freed from the clutches of sin, Satan and death are given days, nights and an eternity where — because of the Savior’s great sacrifice — the dark can no longer surround us.

Because of Jesus, our path is bright and beautiful.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, modern technology has given us light bulbs which will burn for 40,000 hours. That is a wonder of human technology for which I am appreciative. But I am most thankful for Your light, which has dispelled the darkness of humankind for 2,000 years. I rejoice that Your light will burn for all eternity. In Your Name I give thanks. Amen.

Pastor Ken Klaus

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