Lamps for Life's Journey

We are all very familiar with Psalm 119:105 which says "Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." It has always been one of our favorite verses and one of the top memorized verses of all time. I personally believe that this is also one of the most taken-for-granted verses that we have in life. I know I've kept this verse memorized for years even before I professed my faith in Jesus Christ, but it wasn't until I read over Proverbs 21 that I became convicted of how often I've taken Psalm 119 for granted and that I needed to get my wires straight in my heart! There is a need for us to be sure of what lamp we use to light our path.

When I read through Proverbs 21, the 4th verse caught my attention as it also mentioned of a lamp that may be used in life. Listen to what it says. "Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin." It is interesting to know that there is another kind of lamp that we tend to use in this life to light our paths and that is the "lamp of the wicked" as the bible calls it.

I had to search up the word "haughty" online to delve deeper into what it means because I just had to make sure my heart is aware of this kind of lamp so that I will NOT be using it at all in lighting up my way. Google comes up with a lot of links to the definition of haughty but for this blog's sake, I'm going to use the one from the Online Free Dictionary. Haughty is defined as having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy. I guess this is why the bible mentioned  having "Haughty EYES" because it has something to do with our view of others. This is the lamp that may be used by those God considered wicked. In fact, He made sure we know they are SIN. (And if you read it closely you can find that haughty eyes and a Proud Heart goes hand in hand for they're only considered singularly as a lamp and not two separate lamps.)

Most of the time we tend to lean into using this lamp in our life. We tend to consider ourselves superior than others -- knowing all things and being right always. We sometimes reach a point in life where we think of ourselves so highly that we no longer view other people as worthy of our consideration, our time, our understanding. Most often we feel that our opinions and thoughts and feelings are ALL that matters and anybody else's is not worth the time listening to. We have gotten ourselves so involved in a world that views SELF so highly that we no longer believe in "laying down one's life for someone else." We are so consumed by the pride of self that even if we profess to be followers of Christ, our actions speak louder than our words. We most oftentimes forget that God has given us a clear instruction as to what kind of lamp to use to light and guide our way, and that is His WORD. And his Word speaks of Love, of Patience, of Perseverance, of Self-Denial, of Kindness, of Submission to one another and most especially to God.

We ought to really check our lamps from time to time to make sure that we're holding the correct light to our path. Is it God's Word that you're holding up with your hand right now? Or do you feel that your path is so clear because you are, all this time, holding up the lamp of the wicked? We should be careful to make sure we are not holding the lamp of Haughty Eyes and a Proud Heart!