This morning I've been meditating on the meaning of Proverbs 4:18: "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day." The image employed by Solomon is universal--one we all can relate to. It begins each morning at dawn. We wake up and see the first light of the sun. As the morning progresses, the sun gets brighter and brighter until it is high noon, or "full day."
Scripture compares this gradual process to the Christian experience. But in what sense? Practically, how does this play out in the believer's life? How does my life get "brighter and brighter" as a believer? As I reflected on this in the light of the context of Proverbs 4 and other correlating Scriptures, I thought of at least four ways in which the believer's life gets "brighter and brighter."
- Direction of Life. The word "path" denoted a course or direction in which a person or thing is moving. In Scripture, and particularly in Proverbs, the words "path" or "walk" refer to the moral orientation of a person's life. While extolling the value of wisdom to his son in Proverbs 2, Solomon says, "So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous." This is in contrast to the "way of the wicked" which is "like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble." The life of the righteous person is marked by firm, sure-footed steps on a well-lit path, whereas the wicked person will stumble through life in total darkness.
- Depth of Insight. This is really the prerequisite to #1. I listed "direction of life" first because that is the primary sense of Proverbs 4:18, but such a walk is predicated on wisdom. The psalmist testified to the Lord, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps. 119:105). At the heart of God's self-revelation to us through Scripture is the gospel of Jesus Christ, "who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30). The well-known hymn Trust and Obey begins with the affirmation, "When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way!" -- thus making our life's path brighter and brighter.
- Delight in the Lord. The religious leaders of his day assumed that because they knew the Scriptures well and observed the Law fastidiously, that they were the front-runners on the "path of the righteous." But Jesus rebuked them, saying, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life" (John 5:39-40). The Christian's faith is not in a set of propositions but in a person. Christ himself is our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). Jesus declared, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." David knew the Lord was his light and testified so in Psalm 27:1: "The Lord is my light and my salvation." In Psalm 37, we see an even closer connection to the truth stated in Proverbs 4:18. In verses 4-6 of that psalm, we are told, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday." In these verses we see a brightness that goes beyond depth of insight that also includes tremendous joy.
- Desire for Heaven. The fact that the path of the righteous gets "brighter and brighter" indicates that things aren't as bright today as they one day will be. In this life there will always be a need for more obedience, more wisdom, more joy. But there is coming a day when the process of sanctification will be complete, when it will be "high noon" for the Christian, a day in which the light will never fade, twilight will never come, darkness will be no more. That is the day on which Christ comes "to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed" (2 Thess. 1:10). The apostle John wrote, "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see! High noon is coming! "And night will be no more. [We] will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be [our] light, and [we] will reign forever and ever" (Rev. 22:5).
May God make your day brighter--and the whole scope of your life--as you meditate on these truths and rejoice in them.