Where Are Your Feet Headed? By Rocky Fleming

(Re-Post from 2013)

 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.  Psalms 119:105 (ESV)

I find it interesting that there are two distinct examples presented in the scripture above as a source of light, and two distinct places these sources illuminate.  There is a lamp, which is easy to understand, and there is a light of some kind that needs some better understanding.  The lamp illuminates our feet and shows us where we are on the path and the next step to take.  The other source of light illuminates our path, and gives us a vague idea where we are headed down the path.  Now we are pretty clear on the lamp concept, even though the lamp being written about in this passage was over 2,500 years ago.  It was likely an oil lamp and likely fueled by olive oil.  At least that is how one would have understood it then.  Now an oil lamp would give some light, but nothing like these lanterns that can kick out thousands of lumens today.  In case you want to know, one lit candle is equal to about 12.57 lumens, and a good flashlight can give you about 300 plus lumens.  What’s my point?  The oil lamp being illustrated in this passage gives just enough light, (about equal to a candle) to shine on our feet and to see where we are stepping.  It is not enough light to show what is down the path.  This illustration is much like life, and is why we are to understand that this passage is not about a physical light, but a metaphor of truth about life, comfort, direction, and assurance through God’s word that He will direct our life if we will use the light of His word.  God’s word shows where we are in life presently (the lamp), and His word also gives us a general direction with where we are to go with our life (light / path).  God’s lamp illuminates what we currently see about our life and simply requires us to open our eyes and look around us to see it, the light spoken of in the passage directs us on a path of life to travel.  A light to our path is not a detailed, close-in look at what is ahead, and is why faith is required.  We get the close-in look with the lamp. While sanctified observation is required to look at our present life and to ask ourselves if God is in our choices, our actions, and our present dealings, faith is required to see the path that is ahead.  You see, faith is the eyes of our soul, as much as our physical eyes are to our physical body.  We see ahead with each.  God’s word becomes this light for our path, if we accept it by faith, and walk in it. Now I realize this is a difficult challenge for us to walk by faith in this manner.  But it is nothing new.  It is the same call that Jesus has made since He revealed the Gospel in that we are no longer under the Law, but grace, and it is through faith in Him, by His grace that we are saved. (Ephesians 2:8-9)  Faith is at the core of the Gospel.  It has always been so.  It is not just a beginning point and an option to continue or a once done thing.  It is also an ending point, and all points in between our salvation and then our entry into Heaven are held together by our faith and God’s grace.  It is the faith we have in Christ, His word, His presence, and His involvement in our life that is incorporated in the clarity and totality of walking in His light.  If I do not live by and exercise this faith in His word, I am walking blindly, ignorant, and vulnerable.  His word steers me around many pitfalls that could have been avoided if I knew, accepted and obeyed God’s word.  But many professing Christians are ignorant of God’s word, for they don’t read or study it.  Many so-called Christians think His word is irrelevant to their life and today’s society and that it is simply a collection of poems and old ideas.  Many Christians have been taught incorrectly either by false prophets, or by shallow doctrine.  The result is a lot of professing Christians wandering around through life without direction, accountability, and vulnerable.  To express the seriousness of this vulnerability among Christians, I looked at some brief statistics concerning families and what might be breaking them apart.  Consider: Professor Bradley Wright, a sociologist at the University of Connecticut, explains from his analysis of people who identify as Christians but rarely attend church, that 60 percent of these have been divorced. Of those who attend church regularly, 38 percent have been divorced.  So, there is statistical evidence that a church and the word of God protect the family.  The percentage of 38% could also be improved if God’s word was a lamp and light for a couple in building their marriage, which it is likely not. Another poll by Churches of Life (getintolife.org) offers some other statistics that provide a sorrowful report. I quote:

• “In a poll of 1,000 respondents, 50 percent of Christian men and 20 percent of Christian women were found to be addicted to pornography.” [CFL NOTE: Be careful interpreting the word “addicted.” In polls and stats, it can mean “totally given over to” or “viewed once in the last 6 months.” In other words, not all classified as “addicted” may be truly “addicted.”]

•   51% of pastors say cyber porn is a possible temptation. 37% say it is a current struggle (Christianity Today, Leadership Survey, December 2001).
•   4 in 10 pastors have visited a porn site (Christianity Today, Leadership Survey, December 2001).
•  17.8% of all "born again" Christian adults (in America) have visited sexually-oriented Websites (Zogby survey conducted for Focus on the Family, 2000).
•  34% of readers of Today's Christian Woman's online newsletter admitted to intentionally accessing Internet porn.
•   A 2003 survey from Internet Filter Review reported that 47 percent of Christians admit pornography is a major problem in their homes.
•   An internet survey conducted by Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in 2002 found 30 percent of 6,000 pastors had viewed internet porn in the last 30 days.
•   A Christianity Today Leadership Survey in 2001 reported 37 percent of pastors have viewed internet porn.
•   Family Safe Media reports 53 percent of men belonging to the Christian organization, Promise Keepers, visit porn sites every week.
•   One in seven calls to Focus on the Family’s Pastoral Care Hotline is related to internet pornography. Today’s Christian Woman in 2003 found that one in six women, including Christians, struggles with   pornography addiction. Men, I would like to ask you to shine God’s lamp to your feet, for you need to know you are headed in some kind of direction whether you realize it or not.  What do you see?  Is there purity?  Is there integrity in all your relationships?  Are there honorable words coming from those lips, or deceit and slander and a distortion of the truth showing up in you?  Are those “feet” someplace they shouldn’t be such as pornography or a wrong relationship or wrong behavior of some kind?  If you are ignorant of what might be on your path ahead, for you haven’t been taught or haven’t read the Bible, you must find the answer and His precepts in God’s word.  Go find it there.  The world and social mores we are exposed to nowadays have distorted the truth and accommodated a behavior that is against God and His truths.  They will not teach you and lead you in God’s truth.  In fact, they will most likely lead you away from it and astray.  But even if you know the truth, you cannot compromise yourself by avoiding it, or disobeying it, or neglecting to follow it.  It is your guide, and you must use it as your guide for life. As the old year ends and a new one begins, I ask you to shine God’s light on your life path that is ahead and see what it says about the consequences of your works going on right now.  There will be good and bad consequences.  What will yours be?  If His lamp reveals that you are now walking wrongly before Him, you need to understand that there will be consequences down that path, and to run away from this evil.  If your feet are running to evil right now, God’s word sheds His light, and here is what it says: Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
desolation and destruction are in their highways.
 The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths;
they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace.  Isaiah 59:7-8   On the other hand, if God’s lamp shows that your feet are in a good place with Him, no matter how difficult life might be for you right now, trust Him and trust the light He is showing from His word about you down your life path, for it promises good.  Look what it says: “The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
when HE delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the LORD upholds his hand.” Psalms 37:23-24 As you begin this New Year, I ask you this question.  “Where do you want your life to end up?”  The answer to this question starts right now by where those feet of yours are right now.  So, shine God’s lamp to your feet and see where they are headed.  Now could be the time to change direction. God bless you, Rocky