This Sunday is GEMS Sunday.
All year the GEMS focused on the theme "Choose Truth" based on Psalm 119:105 -- "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path." (NLT)
That verse is found inside the front cover of many NIV Bibles, it's known by many Christians, and was sung often in many churches in the 1980's, 90's, and still today (Thy Word by Amy Grant with Michael W. Smith). It instructs us that God's Word is a light for us in a world that, increasingly, may seem more and more dark.
But here's the troubling thing ... many Christians know that verse but that doesn't mean they listen to it. More and more Christians are not reading their Bible regularly. More and more Christians are becoming suspicious of what the Bible says, whether it is true, and whether it is still relevant for today. More and more Christians see God's Word as something that may be important but not important enough to invest much time and energy into studying it.
They also learned that Jesus is the light of the world. So not only did God give us the light of His Word to guide our steps He also gave us Jesus, our Saviour, who promises eternal life to all who believe in Him.
In response to all that they learned about God's Word, the GEMS were challenged to think about the decisions they make, and what guides them in making those decisions: Habit? Other people? Something else? They were asked: would their choices look different if they believed that walking by His light was always the best choice?
Those are good questions for us to consider as we prepare to celebrate GEMS Sunday with them. Having been told in God's Word of all that He has done for us, and all that He provides for us (His children) is God's Word a lamp to guide our feet and a light for our path? Do we look to Jesus, the light of the world, as God's Word tells us ... or do we try to get by on our own?
Would our choices look different if we believed that walking by God's light was always the best choice?