Sweeping in the Dark

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” – Psalm 119:105

A few nights ago, I was cleaning house and had just about finished when I noticed the kitchen floor needed to be swept. Not a biggie, I thought. I can whip through that task in short order. The only problem—I had already turned out the light. Now, how much of an effort does it take to turn on the light? Not much, but I was at the other end of the kitchen and figured I would just do it without turning on the light. Can you guess what happened?

I swept as I normally do. I got all the corners, under the table, around the refrigerator . . . the end result? A dirty floor! When I turned on the light the next morning, I realized there were many, many things that I had missed. Why? Because I could not see all of the problems in the dark.

This was not the first time I had failed at a task in the dark. Once I tried to wash my car after the sun had gone down. What a laugh I had the next morning when the light revealed the error of my ways!

We can draw a spiritual parallel between my tasks and our walk with the Lord. We live in a dark world where morals and integrity are severely lacking. Many times, individuals will compare themselves to the standards of the world and convince themselves that they “aren't that bad.” Of course, my kitchen floor “wasn't that bad” in the dark either, but in the light, and in reality, it was filthy. We cannot compare ourselves to an evil world and expect to get a clear picture of how we are doing.

Our focus verse says that God's Word is a light unto our path. Indeed, the principles contained within the Bible are the true standard we must compare ourselves to, and Jesus, who is the Word made flesh, is our perfect Example. He is the Light of the world, and as we walk close to Him, He will show us the areas of our lives that need to be cleaned up.