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Growing up in church all my life, I heard certain scripture verses regularly.
These are scriptures that some of you would also find familiar. You know the ones we often quote, read at …
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Growing up in church all my life, I heard certain scripture verses regularly.
These are scriptures that some of you would also find familiar. You know the ones we often quote, read at weddings, recite at funerals, see on a sign at a football game in the stands above the end zone, hang on our wall, or ... put on a coffee cup. I call these familiar verses “coffee cup” verses. For example, John 3:16 might be one.
Now, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with these familiar verses; they are wonderful. Nor is there anything wrong with putting them on a coffee cup.
But often I wonder if we stop and think about them and seriously contemplate what they mean.
One familiar verse is Psalm 119:105. I would dare to say that most who have been around church would recognize it right away. It says, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path.”
That is a wonderful verse. And I have seen it printed on various things and quoted many times in my life. However, I wonder if we stop and think about what we just said when we recite this recognizable verse? I would like to unpack what this verse means in a few sentences, then have you ask yourself, “Am I living up to what I’m quoting?”
The “word” that the psalmist is referring to is the Bible itself. He says that this “word” — or the Bible — is the guide to one’s life.
In a poetic way, he uses “feet” and “path” to speak of both how we walk and where we walk. He uses “lamp” and “light” to refer to the “word”(or Bible) as the entity that gives the believer direction. In short, what the verse is telling us is that God’s word, the Bible, is the guide that tells us how we, as Christ-followers, are to live.
Paul tells us in Colossians 1:10, “...walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
So I must ask myself whether I am taking Psalm 119:105 seriously when I quote it or have it on my coffee cup. Am I allowing God’s Word, the Bible, to direct me, guard me, bring me into God’s will?
It’s a question only you can answer as you read this familiar verse — or any other “coffee cup” verse for that matter.
(Tim Morrow is the Pastor at New Life Church.)
