I wake up before dawn. It is especially dark, now that we are nearing the end of October.
Every morning I walk downstairs in the dark to find the coffee-maker. Without turning on a light, for fear of disturbing my son’s sleep, I make a cup of black coffee.
There is a chair next to the fireplace in my den. I sit there, in the dark, and say a simple prayer, thankful for a night of rest and asking for my God to speak to me through His word. I read my ESV Bible from the glow of my iPad. And so he speaks to me.
This morning I read Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible. Verse 105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Thinking of God’s word as a lamp to my feet and a light to my path was a poignant metaphor, particularly as I sat holding my glowing iPad in the otherwise dark of my den.
It would be untrue if I said that I begin every morning in this way. I should, but I don’t. However, most mornings, when I do, I find that I read something that sheds light on a situation in my life. More often than not, I see my day most clearly through the darkness of those early mornings when I read my Bible.
The darkness that covers my path which stretches out from my chair by the fireplace, through the entire day, returning back home to that same chair at night is pierced by the lamp of the light of God’s word.
Friends, as you know, I have been praying that you would all start carrying your bibles to church with you on Sunday. Carrying your bible will not effect magic as though it is a special charm or amulet. Rather, carrying your bible with you probably means that you are spending time in it; maybe in the dark of the early morning.
