Helpful Light

"Hey, Mom, what are you doing?" asked Londyn as she and her mother stood in the linen aisle at the store. Mom held a cloth napkin up toward the light. "These napkins have some flaws in them, so they cost less than regular ones. When I hold them up to the light, I can see what's wrong and whether or not it's a serious problem.""How can you tell?" Londyn wanted to know."With the light shining through the material, I can see if there's a weak spot." Mom pointed to one of the flaws. "Most of these aren't bad, and I think I'll buy some."After family devotions that evening, Londyn showed her dad the new napkins. "Light is very helpful," Dad said as Londyn held a napkin up to the light and pointed out a small flaw. He grinned. "Does this remind you of anything from our devotions tonight?""Actually, yeah!" said Londyn. "The verse you read said that God's Word is a lamp to our feet."Dad nodded. "And a light to our path. When we examine our actions in the light of His Word, the flaws in our lives show up.""Flaws?" asked Londyn. "Like what?""Well, remember when you were angry with Vera and wanted to get even with her?" asked Mom. "We looked up Bible verses that gave light on the subject, and you were able to see that trying to get even with her was wrong."Londyn nodded. "The verses said to repay evil with good. At first I didn't want to do that, but I trusted God to help me, and I'm so glad I did. Vera is one of my best friends now.""That's great," said Dad. "Sometimes there may be parts of our lives that we'd rather not hold up to the light of God's Word because we're afraid we'll have to change what we're doing. We forget that hanging on to our sinful ways is hurtful to both us and others. That's why the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the Bible and uses it to shine light on what we're doing wrong--so we can confess our sin and trust Him to help us change our behavior.""Right," said Mom. "Then we'll be able to experience more joy and peace in our lives."–Lyndel F. Walker