Our Lighthouse

In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
(John 1:4-5 NIV)

I grew up in Cape Town, South Africa where life revolves around the ocean. Lots of fun times were spent swimming in the sea and playing on the beach. Dolphins and whales made regular appearances as did Great White sharks on occasion. (That’s somewhat less fun. It’s amazing how fast you can swim when a fin is sighted. I became quite adept at identifying fins, a curved fin = dolphin; a triangular fin = shark). However, the oceans around the tip of Africa have a more ominous side. Violent storms blow up suddenly, and many a ship has gone to its doom on the rocks around the coast. Its moniker “Cape of Storms” was not given lightly.

As a child, I watched the rescue of a cargo ship, the Sea Farer, which went onto the rocks during a storm less than two hundred feet off the promenade. Miraculously, there was no loss of life. I still remember the helicopters battling back and forth in gale force winds lifting people to safety and the massive waves buffeting the broken ship.

The stanchion that saved many ships from a similar fate was a small, red-and-white striped lighthouse. It blared its horn and sent its beam of light out into the darkness to warn ships they were approaching danger and needed to change course. Its light also guided lost sea farers to shore.

Jesus is our red-and-white striped lighthouse. When the storm suddenly comes upon us, with gale force winds raging, rain pounding, and waves threatening as we desperately try to find land, His light will beam out through the darkness, and He will guide us safely to shore.

His light not only saves us, it also warns us of impending danger. Just as the light from the lighthouse warns ships of the hidden shoals, His Word will keep us safe when we are in danger of veering off the path.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105 NKJV).