Stay close to the light…

 Stay close to the light….

Recently, one of my daughter-in-laws, one grandson and I visited a nearby cave, called Mammoth Cave…A unique tourist stop north of Twin Falls…

Acres of rusty farm equipment, old trucks, old fences, corrals, buildings…lose chickens, 40+ peacocks and hens, 3 emu…

You check in, receive a LED lantern  and off you go on a self-guided tour of a lava tube which extends about a quart of mile underground, following the designated pathway in and out…your lanterns are the only light except the entrance hole…the cave is huge…painted signs are placed once in awhile…but mostly you are looking at the variations of colors and formations  in the rock wall…moisture seeps from above, with a temperature of 40 degrees…

(Down the road at the Shoshone ices caves, ice is the floor…where they once made ice to sell…)

My grandson, who is six, wasn’t a big fan of the dark around us , but my daughter -in-law kept encouraging him with our lanterns, saying “ we need to keep close to the light” so that we could see, find our paths and look at the cave and rocks…

What a reminder again that we also need to keep close to the Light…

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:3-4

You shall make seven lamps for it. And the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it.

Exodus 25:37 

For you are my lamp, O Lord, and my God lightens my darkness.

2 Samuel 22:29 

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:1 

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

Psalm 119:105,130 

Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.

Daniel 2:20-22 

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, 

for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 

as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; 

to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, 

to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, 

whereby the sunrise shall visit us  from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, 

to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Luke 1:68-79

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6 

But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

Ephesians 5:13,15

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:5,7

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 

By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, And night will be no more. 

They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Revelation 21:23-24,22:5

Thank YOU for lights to light our paths and being the Light to light our lives….