Verse of the Day 5/25

Verse of the Day 5/25

John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."     English Standard Version (ESV)

As I read today's verse yesterday in the read through the Bible plan that I'm following, I was reminded our our trip to Israel and walking through Hezekiah's tunnel.  It is a tunnel that was dug  under the city of Jerusalem under the direction of King Hezekiah.  I was built to bring fresh water to the city from underground and would be a way for them to have a constant supply of fresh water even if the city were under siege.  It is a narrow tunnel and in most spots only one person can fit through at a time. 

By the way it was excavated, people must have been shorter than today.  If it was built today, it would have to be more  rounded as well.  The hole  cut in the rock was tapered, narrower at the feet and broader at shoulder height and then tapered to the top of the head.  If you are of average height today you have to stoop to get through it.  But the important thing is that it is pitch black in the tunnel.  Even though the path has been cut, the same path for thousands of years, without the light you'd constantly be bumping your head, scraping it against the ceiling of the tunnel (as I did a few things even with a light), or quite easily trip and fall into the  water.  The light makes all the difference.

So it is in life.  Even in the Christian life, the path has been laid for us, but it we are trying to live it on our own, by our own way, our own means, it is as if we are walking down this narrow path in the dark.  Without His light, His  Word we'd constantly be bumping our heads,  tripping and falling along  the path, through life's tunnel.  How foolish would we be to walk through that tunnel in the dark while we had a flashlight in our pocket, or  even in our hand but didn't turn it on, didn't use the  light.  How foolish are we in this life if we don't use the light of the world, His Word, and the Holy Spirit to guide us?

Jesus once again addressed them: "I am the world's Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness."  John 8:12 The Message

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

John 8:12-18The Message (MSG)

You're Missing God in All This

¹² Jesus once again addressed them: "I am the world's Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in."

¹³ The Pharisees objected, "All we have is your word on this. We need more than this to go on."

^14-18 Jesus replied, "You're right that you only have my word. But you can depend on it being true. I know where I've come from and where I go next. You don't know where I'm from or where I'm headed. You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don't make judgments like that. But even if I did, my judgment would be true because I wouldn't make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father. That fulfills the conditions set down in God's Law: that you can count on the testimony of two witnesses. And that is what you have: You have my word and you have the word of the Father who sent me."