What Lies Within Us

Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Listen to this devotional:

Luke 11:35-36 – See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you. (NIV)

I was reading through a magazine that came to our home from a company that employed my husband for most of his working years. There were two particular quotations that I noticed. One was from Edward Gibbon, the historian, which reads, "I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging of the future but by the past." The other quotation, from Ralph Waldo Emerson, states, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

As I thought about these two quotations in a secular magazine, I was led in my thinking away from my husband's employer, the company that provides energy to light the province of Ontario, and began to think instead about the light that God has given us to fill our whole bodies, that they might never be a part of that which lies in darkness.

In our spiritual lives, we never need to worry about a blackout for lack of energy, because our God gives light freely to those who believe. The light that shines through Christ provides us with the lamp to guide our way into the future.

As for what lies before us being a tiny matter compared to what lies within us, this idea hits the nail right on the top, for it is what lies within us, the Spirit of God, that overcomes all our past deeds — be they tiny matters or even great ones. We are given new energy for the future we have in living together in Christ. The door is left open for us to inherit the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: Dear Lord, enable us to look to the future by learning from the past, especially about how Jesus walked on this earth to provide spiritual light filled with energy through the Holy Spirit. Help us to realize that what lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what You, Lord, have given us through the Holy Spirit, Who dwells within us. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

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About the author:

Anne Russell <annerussell80@gmail.com>
Brampton, Ontario, Canada

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