Lightening Bugs

 

S

ome people call them fireflies; we called them lightening bugs and as the long summer days stretched into peaceful summer evenings, our backyard was filled with a surplus population of lightening bugs.  As kids, it was our duty to catch every single one of these little guys and place them into the Mason jars we had “borrowed” from our mothers’ pantries, cabinets, and basements. 

 

As the long shadows of evening slowly invaded our backyard, the lightening bugs began their nocturnal waltz, dancing among the trees, shrubs, flowers, and toys that populated our yard.  We spent hours chasing, catching, and collecting them.  When we could go no further, we proudly took our jar filled with lightening bugs into the house to show our parents.  We placed the jars in our bedrooms and the bugs provided a soft glow throughout the night.  In the morning, we released the bugs only to start the whole process over again the following night. 

 

As I grew older, the allure of catching lightening bugs seemed to fade away.  Movies, cars, girls, and a host of other things began to catch my attention more and more.  However, my sophomore year freshman year in college, I was re-introduced to the lightening bug in biology class.  We conducted an experiment to reproduce the light created by all those little bugs floating around campus. 

 

I followed the instructions in the lab manual to the letter.  I mixed the chemicals on my desk in the right order and in the right quantity.  Finally, our professor turned out the lights and I stared at my test tube.  As my eyes adjusted, I could see a faint glow, but the light in the test tube was nowhere near the intensity of the little guys I had collected in my Mason jar years earlier. In fact, instead of being a burst of light that could be seen from several hundred feet away, I had only succeeded in creating a dim glow which was not very impressive.  No lightening bug using my method would be seen on the blackest of nights. No matter how much I tried, my light was no substitute for the original. 

 

This is a lesson we need to take from the Scriptures and apply to our daily walk with the Lord.  Too often we try to walk by our own light, to follow our own paths, and to find our own way.  When we rely on our own resources, we always get into trouble.  We stumble in the dark and eventually fall down.  We can’t produce enough light to dispel the darkness around us.  We can’t produce light because there is no light in us. 

 

Isaiah 50:10-11 gives us the following warning, “Who among you fears the LORD  
and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light,  
trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.  But now, all you who light fires  
and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment.” 

 

Notice that this passage contains both an admonition and a warning.  Isaiah reminds us that if we have no light (and none of us do) that we must put our trust in the LORD!  Only by obeying Him, only by relying on Him for everything, and only by remaining in close relationship with Him can we hope to walk in the light and avoid the pitfalls of sin.  But if we insist on doing things our own way, if we constantly make our own decisions and walk according to our own will, then God promises we will have nothing but grief and heartache.  We will have these things because we have refused to walk with our God. 

 

There is no substitute for God’s light, and that light is Jesus Christ.  Nothing we do of our own will, no attempt we make, and no actions we take can ever produce the pure light we need.  Only in Jesus Christ can we find this light and only by accepting him can we walk in a manner that is pleasing to God.  Isn’t it amazing what you can learn from a little lightening bug?