A scout master was teaching his boy scouts about survival in the wilderness.

"What are the three most important things you should bring with you in case you get lost in the wilderness?" he asked.

Several hands went up and many important things were suggested such as food, matches, etc.

Then one scout replied, " A compass, a canteen of water, and a deck of cards."

"Why is that?" the scout master asked.

The scout answered, "The compass is to find the right direction, the water is for dehydration, and the deck of cards is because as soon as you start playing solitaire, someone is bound to come up behind you and tell you to put the red 7 on the black 8".

It’s true. Who hasn’t watched someone playing solitaire, and told that person what card to play. It is also true in life. In all areas of life, people are full of advice on what you should do and how should you do it.

Call in talk shows on cable TV and radio, newspaper columns like Dear Abbey, self help books are all increasing in number. This suggests to me that people are searching for answers, for guidance. We are all looking for someone to shed light on our particular life situation.

The Psalmist’s remedy to our search is simple,
THE WORD OF GOD.

"Your Word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path."

Recently, I was asked by a parent of a teenager, where they could buy a Bible to replace the one which their child received at confirmation. It seems that the child took me literally, when I told the class that they should not go anywhere without the Word of God.

The child and his Bible became inseparable. The Bible was like Mary’s lamb, wherever the child went the Bible was sure to go, to football practice, to school, to the stores, trick or treating, and even into the tub. He never put it down reading it consistently. In a relatively short time he has worn out his Bible.

You don’t believe me do you?

Would you believe me if I told you that, the Bible was in this shape, because inadvertently, the family dog used it has a teething toy.

Why is the second story more palatable? Is it that difficult to imagine, someone wearing out a Bible. Is it difficult to believe someone actually hungering and thirsting for the Word of God. Does it seem incomprehensible that someone would carry his or her Bible wherever they go, in a similar way that some people carry the newspaper, or a novel, or a magazine.

Why is that?

Is the voice of God being muted, by the sounds of special interest groups, personal desires, societal values, by what’s popular and what isn’t?

Is the Word of God being replace by the words and desires of humanity?

Is our attitude becoming, if God’s Word condemns something we do, then God’s Word is obviously wrong. OR We do it, believing in our hearts that God’s Word is right BUT God will understand and forgive us.

Why is it that we choose to believe all the passages of scripture that shine a light on God’s love and forgive, yet too often choose to ignore the passages of scripture that shine a light on God’s demands that we trust and obey.

"Your Word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path."

Sara Orne Jewett has written a story about life in Maine, The Country of the Painted Firs. In it she describes a retired sailor who takes up farming. As you approach his farm, you would notice wooden stakes randomly scattered on his land. Each stake is painted white and trimmed with yellow. When asked about the stakes the retired sea captain said, "When I made the transition from sailing the seas to farming the fields, I discovered my plow would get caught on large rocks. Remembering how buoys in the sea always marked trouble, I placed land buoys, marking the rocks, so I would not strike the rocks again".

Such is the Word of God, it steers us clear of trouble and it guides us in paths of righteousness. The questions is, Are you willing to follow it OR do you want to go your own way, do your own thing. There is great wisdom in the following statement, "The strength of a person consists in finding out the way God is going and going that way."

To walk safely in the woods at night we need a light to avoid tripping over tree roots or falling into holes. In this life, we walk through a dark forest of evil. The Bible can be our light, God’s compass, to show us the way ahead so we won’t stumble as we walk. It reveals the entangling roots of false values and philosophies. Is our problem that we have become so sophisticated that we think we don’t need the Word of God.

Think of God’s Word as airport landing lights. Would you want to be on board a jet plane preparing for a night time landing, whose pilot radios the tower to shut off the runway lights, because in his cock pit he has the best sophisticated equipment possible and because of it he thinks he doesn’t need the runway lights.

Yet how many of us try to pilot our lives that way. Trusting contemporary wisdom at the expense of abandoning the absolute truth of God’s eternal Word. You have a choice, You can follow the voice of today’s trends, which will be tomorrow’s forgotten fads OR you can follow the voice of God, which is the Truth, today, tomorrow and the day after, forever.

"Your Word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path."

Amen

Reverend Richard Hayes Weyer

Our thanks to the Filecity.com Christian Midis for the Hymn
"Fairest Lord Jesus"