As the young, new, city-bred teacher in the small local school, living with one family and getting to know the others whose children were now my pupils, I readily accepted the invitation to dinner from the neighbouring farming family. Sunshine filled the late afternoon sky as I set out on foot for the short walk from one home to the other. The track ran a short distance along a gravelled farm roadway, climbed through a fence, across a grassed paddock where cattle grazed, then went through the boundary fence and followed a gravelled farm road to the neighbouring house.

After a pleasant meal, the time arrived for me to return home. What a difference a few hours had made! As I went outside, the darkness enveloped me. Stars shone brilliantly in the night sky, but cast little light on the pathway. Even my youthful vision could not distinguish the edge of the roadway. Eventually, I reached the boundary fence and clambered through into the grassed paddock. After several changes of direction, I reached the home fence, and once through it, was back on the gravelled road to home. How wonderful to enter the well-lit homestead where there was light instead of darkness!

Even more wonderful, in the midst of the dark experiences of life, is the light of life — Jesus. He is the light of the world, and when we follow Him, we walk in the light, and the darkness is dispelled.

Bernard Barton no doubt had such a thought in mind as he penned these words in 1826:

Walk in the light: and you shall own
Your darkness passed away,
Because that light on you has shone
In which is perfect day.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the light of the world, dispelling the darkness of sin and sorrow. Build us into people of faith who trust You, so that when the dark periods of life come upon us, we may walk with You in the light of life. Amen.

The entrance to our friend's large farming property was imposing, with its signboards pointing to the various farming activities: "Sheep", "Cattle", "Wheat", "Citrus", "Cotton", "Homestead". We were warmly welcomed, and, after settling in, were taken on a tour of inspection of the large property, alighting from the car at various places, as our host educated us about the wide variety of agricultural activities. One stop brought us to a cotton harvester worth tens of thousands of dollars. As our host explained its great usefulness in harvesting the cotton crop, he also lamented that it was inactive at that time because of a small bolt, which had snapped. That bolt was worth only a dollar or two, but, because this small part was missing, the valuable machine was unable to fulfill its task.

Paul reminds us that God has arranged His body on earth like that machine. Every part, small or large, is important for His body to function as He planned. Are we aware of the significance of our role in that body, even though it seems small, or even insignificant? The health of Christ's body on earth, the church, is dependent on each of us fulfilling our role.

Prayer: – Lord God, help us to realize that You have allocated a role for each of us in the life of Your body on earth. Strengthen us to fulfill that role faithfully, that Your body may continue to fulfill the great commission. Amen.

Newly wed, the young couple was enthusiastic about furnishing their home. They invited me to see the table they had found in a local used furniture store, which was to have pride of place as their dining table. I was disappointed as I viewed the old, weather-beaten table with its dirty surface, cracked along its length through weathering, graffiti along its supporting rails (yes, it had been in a school at one time), its drawers missing. Yet for them it was perfect.

Weeks later, I saw that table again, its surface and supporting rails sanded and oiled, the drawers lovingly re-made and positioned in their spaces. It was just as they had seen it in their mind — a thing of beauty, worthy of its place in their home. It reminded me of how God must see us mired with the results of our sin. Yet, He also has vision — a vision for us, cleansed, forgiven, renewed through the sacrifice of Jesus. We need but to accept His salvation in Christ Jesus to know that we are "a new creation".

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You that we are each a new creation through Your sacrifice on Calvary. Help us to follow You throughout our lives. Amen.