He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually.
– Leviticus 24:4
I witnessed a blind man getting off a city bus yesterday. As he stepped down onto the sidewalk his long cane surveyed the land in front of him. He moved the cane side to side as he walked up the sidewalk and turned into the parking lot of the grocery store.
He seemed confident and sure of his direction as he maneuvered around cars and shopping cart stalls to the front door of the store. I, on the other hand, was filled with apprehension as I watched. I thought to myself how can he trust that long cane?; how terrifying not to see!; and what if something goes wrong?
Then my thoughts immediately turned to God Almighty and how this blind mans walk mirrors so well our walk with Him. God is there to guide us, giving us His Holy Word the Bible as our “long cane” to keep us in the right way as we move forward. When we do not rely on this precious gift we find ourselves walking blindly through life: stumbling over obstacles; going the wrong way; reaching out in the darkness and grabbing whatever we can get to try and satisfy our need for safety and fulfillment! Then, we suddenly realize that we are lost, further from home and our desired destination than when we started out. We had no idea we were going the wrong way or that something had even gone wrong until we had gone so far.
If only we would Stop and pick up the “long cane”- the guiding light that God has provided us all and begin to utilize it! If only we would read His Word, learn about the Light and His ways, begin to trust Him and obey- we could be saved and our way made sure all the rest of our days and on into eternity!
I am sure that it took much patience, learning, and practice for that blind man to fully trust his guiding long cane. He did not give up on using it, no matter the obstacles that came his way because he had been assured it was his only way to maneuver safely through life and arrive at his desired destination. He had faith that if he kept at it he would reach his goal.
Jesus is the Word, the Light, the Way, the Truth, and the Life! The Holy Spirit is our guide to oneness and eternal life with Him. He is loving, long-suffering, and patient towards us as He stands ready to show us the way out of darkness into light- to open our eyes to see.
As You Rise 