LXXVIII.
“A LAMP UNTO MY FEET.”
Once upon a time, so it is said, a little ragged boy was carefully printing these words with a stick upon the ground, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet.”
On looking up from his work, the little fellow was surprised to find a kind-looking old man watching him.
“Where did you learn that, my boy?” asked the man.
“At Sunday-school, sir.”
“What’s your name?”
“Crawford.”
“So, Crawford, you learned that text at Sunday-school. Do you know what it means?”
“No, sir.”
“What is a lamp?”
“A lamp? Why, sir, a lamp is a thing that gives light!”
“That’s correct. Well, what is the word that the text speaks of?”
“The Bible, sir.”
“That’s right. Now, how can the Bible be a lamp and give light?”
“I don’t know,” said the boy, “unless you light it and set it on fire.”
“There’s a better way than that, my lad. Suppose you were going down some lonely lane on a dark night with an unlighted lantern in your hand, and a box of matches in your pocket, what would you do?”
“Why, I’d light the lantern.”
“Why would you light it?”
“To show me the road, sir.”
“Very well. Now, suppose you were walking behind me some day, and saw me drop a quarter; what would you do?”
“A Lamp Unto My Feet.”
“Pick it up and give it to you, sir.”
“Wouldn’t you want to keep it yourself?”
Crawford hesitated; but he saw a smile on the old gentleman’s face, and, smiling himself, he finally said:
“I should want to, sir; but I shouldn’t do it.”
“Why not?”
“Because it would be stealing.”
“How do you know?”
“It would be taking what wasn’t my own, and the Bible says we are not to steal.”
“Ah!” said the old man, “so it’s the Bible that makes you honest, is it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“If you had not heard of the Bible you would steal, I suppose?”
“Lots of boys do,” said Crawford, hanging his head.
“The Bible, then,” continued the old man, “shows you the right and safe path—the path of honesty, does it?”
“Like the lamp!” exclaimed Crawford, seeing now what all the old man’s questions meant. “Is that what the text means?”
“Yes, my boy,” the man answered, “there is always light in the Bible to show us where to go and what to do. Don’t you think it would be a good thing to take the Bible, the good old lamp, and let it light you right through life?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you think you will be safer with it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why?”
“Because if I’m honest I will never go to prison.”
“And what else?” asked the man.
Crawford thought awhile. By-and-by he said,—
“If I mind the Bible I shall go to heaven when I die.”
“Yes, and that’s the best reason for taking the lamp. It will light you right into heaven.”