While getting your gear together for a camping trip, you check off your packing list… You have your clothes, food, water, tent, sleeping bag… What else will you need? Did you remember a flashlight so you can see to walk around at night? Does your flashlight have fresh batteries?

There were no flashlights in Bible times. Instead they used oil lamps to see at night.  says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (NIV)

What does this verse mean?” The Bible is often called the Word of God. Do you think you could use a Bible instead of a flashlight to walk around in the dark when you are camping? Of course not. And that isn’t what the Psalm writer meant either.

Sometimes it seems dark, even when the sun is shining. Perhaps we have problems that are so difficult that it feels dark inside us. We wonder which way to go, what to do. Or maybe you have friends who try to get you to do things that are wrong. Someone may be bullying you. Or you may know about someone who is hurting another person, but you don’t know how to get them to stop. These things make us feel dark inside.

Psalm 119:105 tells us that the Bible is our light. This verse does not guarantee that we will just happen to turn to the right page when we have a problem and the answer will jump out at us. But it does mean that if we will take the time every day to read a little more, we will be prepared for the hard times when they come. Reading the Bible every day is like charging your batteries so your flashlight will shine in the dark.

You may be facing dark days already. If you haven’t yet started reading the Bible, get started. Meanwhile, seek out a Christian friend who has been reading it a long time to talk to about those dark problems. Perhaps her batteries will be charged up enough to light your way for now. She might show you some of her favorite places in the Bible where you might start reading as well.