Verse of the Day for July 14

The lamp in this verse is not a floodlight. It was a small clay lamp with a wick in oil, the kind you could hold in one hand. It lit the ground near your sandals and not much more.

So when the psalmist says Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, he is describing a modest kind of guidance. Enough light for the next step. Then, as you walk, enough for the one after that. It is also a light unto my path, but the path is shown by walking it.

At a point of decision we usually want the whole road lit. Where will this lead in five years, what will it cost, who will be pleased. Scripture rarely gives that. It gives the step.

The verses either side add two things. Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. The word clears away the wrong options first. Then, I have sworn, and I will perform it. Some decisions were already made the day you promised to follow him. You are only keeping that promise in a new place.

Standing at a junction, the admission letter in one hand and your family's opinion in the other, ask what the lamp shows of the next step. Take that one.

Enough light for one step is enough to start walking.

Many decisions were settled the day you said yes to him.