Guest Columnist for The Messenger

March - April 2023
The Messenger

We’ve been looking at the Book of Proverbs this past year, the wise worlds of old King Solomon. Were you reading a chapter of Proverbs a day during the months of 2022, and especially during the months that contained thirty-one days? The 31-day months were: January, March, May, July, August, October and December. Wow, seven months, that is a perfect number. We should always read the Bible daily. It contains so much treasure for each one of us, young and old alike, that it makes us want to share it with others, especially with those who do not read it often.

Let's go back to one particular verse right now. It is Proverbs 20:27, and this time, we will use the King James Version. It says: "The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly." (The “belly” was considered the inner-most and most remote part of man, and often was a stand-in for the word, soul. You could call it a synonym, or a euphemism, even).

The spirit of man is a light set up in him; this is what is commonly called the light of nature; it was a bright and burning light at first, but through sin is become a very feeble one; by which men have only a glimmering view of divine things, of God and his worship, and of what he would have done, or not done. By this light we grope after God, with the aim to find Him and know His will. But it is a candlelight at best, when compared to Christ, the true light (John 1:9 and John 3: 19) who shines like the sun as compared to the glimmering and faltering candle. Nevertheless, there is a candle in each one of us, and it is a light set up by the Lord, a candle of His. It comes from the Father of lights, and He is the author and maintainer of it; it is a spirit and understanding which is by the inspiration of the Almighty – see Gen. 2:7.

Yes it needs to be restored and saved by Christ, but it is there, searching all the inward and remote and hard-to-reach parts of us; the thoughts, intents, and purposes of it; which are the things of a man that only the spirit of man knows. By this candle, or light, aided by The Holy Spirit, a person can look into their own heart, the inmost recesses of it, and reflect upon his or her thoughts and schemes, and judge in some measure whether right or wrong. There is a conscience in man, which, unless it has been seared, passes sentence on what is in man, or done by him, and either excuses or accuses. We can thank God for this candle, this light, and then, when we find Christ, we can thank God for His true light in us, helping us to finish the course of this life.
One more note about this light - let's go back to Genesis, chapter one, to the description of creation.

Look at the fifth day when God called into existence the birds of the air and the fish of the sea and the animals that walk across the earth . Then on the sixth day, The Bible says God said something different, when God said; "let Us make man in Our own image, after Our likeness..." Read Genesis 2, it explains deeper what God did, making Adam and Eve. We human beings are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) – made in God’s own image. That is the candle. The animals were not created this way. Neither were the fish or birds – just mankind. Only man got the candle of The Lord. Isn't God wonderful? That is why the spirit of man is the candle of the LORD.

Until next time, peace, Shalom.
~Guest Columnist