Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Hello, dear people.

Becki and I did our walk/jog routine earlier. We tend to regard that routine as beneficial to both our health and our relationship. Besides talking about the themes contained in these little devotional essays, we talk about everything else you can imagine—maybe even some you can’t.

I admit that I sing in the shower. I’m sure you know that a lot of the songs people sing, even in church, can be sung from memory without really hanging on their meaning and message. I guess that’s how I began singing—a very familiar Gospel song, known from childhood—“When we walk with the Lord in the LIGHT of His WORD, what a glory He sheds on our way…” Then it hit me how well those lines fit with some of the devotional content below. Of course the song title is TRUST AND OBEY. Even that title offers some very sound advice—because if you don’t, you’re on your own. And that’s a scary thought.

Time to get on with the other stuff of the day. Blessings.

Love, Dad/Ray.

This is not the first time we’ve encountered this LIGHT and LIFE combination relating to Jesus. I want to cite here the first few verses of this Gospel. And just for the sake of considering that old familiar passage with fresh new verbiage, I’m choosing to quote from The Message translation: “The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one. Everything was created through him; nothing — not one thing! — came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out” (John 1:1-5—from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

For clarification, let’s understand that Jesus is the WORD that is spoken of here—and the WORD is Jesus. If I’m connecting dots correctly, we can’t have One without the Other. We could gather a pile of scriptural support for this. I’ll only draw your attention to a couple:

1. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word”
(Hebrews 1:1-3). Notice the similarities between that introduction to Hebrews and the introduction to John that we’ve cited above.
2. “He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God” (Revelation 19:13-14). This is from a spectacular scene in the drama-vision of John.

Let’s consider the LIGHT part of the combination and quote Psalm 119:105—a verse my mother had me memorize as a little kid. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). Add to this the LIFE part and note the words of Jesus from John 6:63: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63).

Finally, listen again to the marvelous inspiration of John in his first epistle: “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7). Haleluia!!!

I don’t claim to be any kind of brilliant Bible scholar, but I’ve been around these thoughts and ideas for a long time. I’m happy to report that they continue to “float my boat” and inspire me. Being reminded even this morning of how they mesh and dovetail together so perfectly to form so much enlightenment along with so much empowerment helps to reaffirm my faith as anything but boring and irrelevant.