Devotional: Daddy’s Lantern: John 8:12

On March 21, 2022 I will be seventy-four years old. This is a great blessing because there were six males in our immediate family—my daddy and five boys. My oldest brother and I are the only males in our family to live to see seventy years. As I was thinking about how the Lord has blessed me I thought about my daddy. God blessed me to have a good daddy.

As I was thinking about some things I remembered an occasion when I was following daddy one night when I was about six years old. I did not know where we were going. It was dark and I could only follow my daddy. Of course, daddy knew where we were going. He knew the direction to travel. Daddy had a lantern to give light to the path so that we could stay on the path. The lantern would give light so that daddy could see any danger that was in the path. I was safe because I was following dad, and dad had the light needed for us to stay on the path.

In the gospel of John, the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus. They had caught her in the act of adultery. They wanted to test Jesus to see if He would follow the law and give consent to stoning the woman (Jn. 8:1-7). Jesus responded by showing them that they too were guilty of sin and they had no right to insist that the woman be stoned to death. Convicted of their own guilt all the men left (8:8-11).

Jesus spoke to the people that were following Him. “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life’” (8:12, NASB). Jesus was saying that He was the One that knows the Father. He is the One that knows the path that the Father wants us to travel in our life. We are safe from the pitfalls and stumbling blocks in life because Jesus is the Light of the world.

Prayer: Jesus I will follow You because You are the Light of the world. Amen.