The light of full day

“But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.”
-Proverbs 4:18

I get excited when I look back on my life as a Christian. Frankly, for the first year after becoming a Christian, I wasn’t terribly active in the church or growing very quickly. I got involved in a small group because I had some friends there, and that helped a lot. It forced me to at least think about Jesus during the week.

One of the girls in the group converted to Christianity, and suddenly she had a lot of questions. That rather forced the rest of us to get more involved just so we could find answers for her. All of a sudden, we were all researching during the week – not for our own sakes, but for hers!

Soon after that, a great trial in my life drove me to God even more. I had nowhere else to go. I thank God constantly for that time, because I became more at peace in Him than ever before.

There have been other events since, forcing me to study one aspect of Christ or another, or forcing me to pray more. But now it’s the study itself that drives me. Once I reached a certain point, studying the Bible simply became a joy.

That’s what makes me excited about it. When I look back, I see the long path that got me here. As this verse says, the path of righteousness begins like the dawn, but the light grows. The Hebrew here tells us that the light is both clear and bright. It is pure.

It’s not yet midday for me, I am happy to say. There is so much more left to learn, to see, to do. I am still so fallen and so flawed. I sin so much, but this road is working it out of me gradually.

But here’s the thing – this road of righteousness, it’s not mine. I did not do this in my life. I am not able to make myself a good person. I cannot work my way close to God.

The path belongs to Jesus. In His perfect life, He forged this trail, and in His death, He lets us walk it. If left to myself, I would be lost in darkness. My mind and heart are filled with evil lust, greed, selfishness, pride, and hatred. I do not deserve life with God.

But Jesus died in my place, taking my sins upon Himself and paying the price I owed. That’s why I can keep walking this path, no matter how often I slip. His mercy picks me up, and His Grace leads me farther into the light of day.

It is that Grace I need to proclaim, not my own accomplishment. The message of the Bible is not that we can earn our way to Heaven. The message of the Bible is that we absolutely cannot earn it. Our very natures have been taken over in sin, the thoughts of our hearts always on evil. The road we forge can only go to darkness.

Repent of that road and believe in the One who made a better way. By His Blood we can be forgiven. By His Grace we can have everlasting life, though we do not deserve it.