Today's Reading: Proverbs 4:10-23
Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 4:8-22,32-37; Ephesians 5:15-33
But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. (Proverbs 4:18)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Rainbows and sunbeams! Butterflies and chirping birds! Just skip down the path of righteousness toward that glowing sunset of joy! Sounds crazy! Sounds like something out of “The Wizard of Oz.” But the Word of God says the path of the just, the righteous, is like a shining sun. What does the sun do? It gives light and heat and life.
The “path of the just” is not your life of good behavior. Should you work to avoid temptation and sin? Of course. Is that what makes you a Christian? No. Just what is this path and how do you know you are on it?
Christians have Jesus' words, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Jesus is the path. He is the shining sun that lights our way. What does that mean? He walks and we follow? What would Jesus do? Do the same thing and you're on the path? Still not right.
Jesus being the path means He is the way we are saved. His death for our sins is the bright and shining light that drives away the darkness of the devil, world, and sinful flesh. His being lifted up on the Cross is the bright light that pierces the darkness of our sin and death and brings us to eternal life.
Wherever Christ is—in baptism, His Word, His Supper—there darkness is destroyed and light shines. In this dark world, Christ and His gifts are themselves the lighted path along which we travel. Safe in Him, we move on to that perfect day when He will come in all His glory and wipe out our sin once and for all. Until then, there is no darkness for God's people because they are in Christ, and He is their light. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
You are the way; through You alone Can we the Father find; In you, O Christ, has God revealed His heart and will and mind. (LSB 526:1)