Article November 23, 1987 Issue

The Bible: our candle on the water

Looking for their light, we will see what the Scriptures have to tell us.

Jan Johnston

Messenger

There is a lovely song entitled "Candle on the Water." To me these words suggest the soft light of a candle just ahead as I travel across the water on a dark, cloudy night. Whenever I think of this image, I feel God's eternal provision and love. The candle reminds me of the Bible, which guides us home and brightens the gloom along the way. If we hold to the spiritual truth we find there, we will make it. We will come at last to a safe harbor.

Anyone who has ever been out on an ocean, lake, or river on a cloudy night knows how dark it can be. The water reflects the blackness of night, so that the darkness seems complete—it is above you, beside you, beneath you. The most important thing at such a time is a sense of direction, a guide—a light to show the way. For me, cloudy nights on the water symbolize the times when we feel utterly lost, surrounded by darkness and fear.

We have all been out on our own dark waters. And humbly, sometimes desperately, we have looked for something to light the way and tell us where to go to reach a peaceful haven. The Bible does just that. The persistence and promise of God's love are the enduring theme of the Bible. God's Word speaks to us through the pages of the Bible, across time and in the voices of many people, piercing the darknesses in which we may find ourselves over a lifetime. The inspiration of the Bible has shone for centuries, and it will shine for all the centuries to come. Its light never dims; its course never changes. It soothes the rough waves, straightens our crooked path, and brightens the night. It directs us to the one source of all true light—God, infinite Spirit.

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