This post is part of a 40-Day Prayer Journey through the season of Lent. Click here to learn more and read other posts in the series.
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105).
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul urged his readers to “live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8-10).
How do we do that? How do we find out what pleases the Lord?
Thankfully, it’s not a matter of trial and error. We don’t have to try one thing and see if God approves or disapproves of it before trying something else.
God gives us everything we need to know in his Word. It contains everything we need to know about him, what he has done to save us from our sins through our Savior Jesus, and how we can live as God’s children in this sin-darkened world. As the psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105).
Living according to God’s will for us in his Word—that’s what pleases the Lord.
Our sinful natures constantly look for loopholes in living according to God’s will, don’t they? “Well, God doesn’t explicitly forbid this in the Bible, so it must be okay . . . ” or “Surely that part of the Bible is outdated, right? It doesn’t apply to modern-day Christians . . . ”
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105).
God’s Word might not explicitly tell us how to live as Christians in the 21stcentury, but its truths and principles are unchanging. It tells us how to live as God’s children—period—whether we’re living in the 1st or 21st century. The more time we spend studying the Scriptures, the more we’ll be equipped to rightly and faithfully apply God’s Word to our lives and how we live and move through this changing world around us.
What’s our motivation?
God’s Word tells us that too. It isn’t to earn God’s love and favor. Those are already ours because of Jesus. It isn’t to win heaven for ourselves. That’s already been won for us by our Savior Jesus. It’s to say thank you to God for everything he has done for us. It’s to create opportunities to tell others about the amazing God who loves them too.
Yes, God gives us everything we need to know in his Word. The Bible tells us about the Savior who loved us so much that he lived a perfect life in our place, died the death we deserve for our sins, and rose again to assure us of our salvation and the home waiting for us in heaven. It tells us about the one who promises, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” He’s how we get home to heaven.
Until then, dear Christian, the Bible also tells us how we can now live as God’s children, letting our light shine and reflecting Christ’s love in this sin-darkened world.
Today as you pray, ask that God’s people would continue to use his Word rightly and faithfully to guide their lives and follow in Christ’s footsteps until the day we get home to heaven.
Did you enjoy this post? Subscribe for free devotional content every week!
Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
Leave a Reply