"Light
My Fire" was recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967 on
the DOORS self-titled debut album. Released as an edited single in May
1967, it spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart
in late July, and one week on the Cash Box Top 100, nearly a year after
its recording. A year later, it re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968
following the success of Jose Feliciano's version of the song (which
peaked at number 3 on the Billboard chart), peaking at number 87. The
song was largely written by Robby Krieger, and credited to the entire
band. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry
Association of America in 1967, representing sales of one million units.
A live version was released in 1983 on their album Alive, She Cried,
the first of several live albums released in subsequent decades to
include the song. "Light My Fire" achieved modest success in Australia,
where it peaked at number 22 on the ARIA chart. The single originally
reached number 49 in the UK in 1967, but experienced belated success in
1991, when a reissue peaked at number 7. The reissue occurred on the
back of revived interest in the band following Oliver Stone's film
biopic The Doors. The song is number 35 on Rolling Stone's list of the
500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was included in the Songs of the
Century list. José Feliciano's cover version won a 1969 Grammy Award for
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, the same year he won another Grammy
for Best New Artist.
You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah
You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah
You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
This
became The Doors' signature song. Released on their first album, it was
a huge hit and launched them to stardom. Before this was released, The
Doors were an underground band in the USA, but this got the attention of
a mass audience. The song is about progression, It's a song about going
on........ a song about the movement of life. In the devotional passage
today we touch the same thoughts.....moving on... Anyone who walks in
this present evil world will encounter times of darkness but God’s Word
will light our path and allow us to keep moving on and not stumble.
The Bible is God’s Word and it’s like a light that illuminates the path
so we know where we’re going. The fact is “the unfolding of [God’s]
words gives light” (Psalm 119:105) and “In him was life, and the life
was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5). John the Baptist “came as a
witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe
through him” (John 1:7) that Jesus Christ was “The true light, which
gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9). Anyone
who has Christ has a light and the Word of God gives light to the path
that we all walk on in life so that we can keep moving on safely,
surely, and securely.
It
is a very uncertain world that we are living in. Everything is
constantly changing: structures, customs, philosophies, ideologies,
opinions, beliefs, relationships. Everyone is searching for security,
for some plank to hold on to, for some figure to trust in. But Jesus
offers us His disciples a sure foundation for our life in the Word of
God. Even if storms should rage around us if we have made His word the
foundation of our life, no harm can touch us.
"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock." (Matthew 7:24-25)This is the grand promise of Jesus that His Word shall be the certainty of our life.
"To Whom Shall We Go Lord? You Have The Words Of Eternal Life" (John 6:68)Jesus tells us, "If you make my Word your dwelling place you shall truly be my disciples." (John 8:31) Jesus offers us His Word as the training ground where we can be formed as His disciples and can live our discipleship to the full. Another rendering of the above verse presents this as "When my Word becomes your home…" What does it mean to make the Lord’s Word my home? My home is where I belong to. This is the place that I come from and get back to. This is where I find the joy of my living; where I am comforted; where I experience love and security. The crucial question we need to examine is whether I belong to God’s Word. This happens when I am so sure of God’s Word that I am able to live by it everyday of my life. Living by the Word is the test of the authenticity of my discipleship. This surely is the basis of Psalm 119:105
There
are many lights flashing around us; many false lights trying to divert
us from our path. Can we still hold firm and pray as the psalmist does,
"Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Ps. 119:105)
The psalmist continues to affirm here, "I have sworn an oath and
confirmed it, to observe thy righteous ordinances." (Psalm 119: 106) To
swear by an oath and to confirm it speaks of something I am convinced of
and committed to. When I meditate on God’s Word and make it the rule of
my life, every decision that I make will be in the light of God’s Word.
Everything that I do will be in the power of His Word.
God’s Word is the truth of life. Jesus while praying to the Father declared, "your word is truth." (John 17:17) And to the people He explained, "Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?" (Mark 12:24) It is wisdom to understand that every sin of my heart was due to this – I had not kept God’s Word. The downfall of humankind came from this disaster. Right in the garden of Paradise the devil came with a lie to our first parents. He approached them and proclaimed that God was not to be trusted. God did not want their good for He was insecure that the humans would become like Him, Satan explained. And distorting the purpose of God, Satan declared that was why God had commanded them not to eat the fruit of that tree. The devil pressed on them to reach for the forbidden fruit as they would become like God and would experience great delight. They found Satan’s proposition acceptable. They took the word of Satan as truth and abandoned the word of God. This false conviction brought disaster onto humankind. We cannot blame Adam and Eve. We have not fared better. All the time the world is telling us blatant lies that contradict God’s Word. The world declares that if I must achieve some thing in life, if I must become successful, rich and famous, I must pursue the path of evil. I cannot afford to follow the Word of God. This lie has spread rampantly, playing havoc in the lives of the people and in families.
It is in this sad background of the world that you and I need to make a commitment. A personal commitment to God where His Word will be the lamp to our feet and the joy of our heart. We need to swear by an oath to keep His Word at every moment and situation because His Word is the truth. Jesus assures us "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." (Matthew 24:35)The Word of God remains forever to give us courage and conviction, security and salvation. When we meditate on the Word and make it a part of our experience, the Word of God enters our life and will sustain us through every change that happens around us.
"In My Mouth As Sweet As Honey" (Ezekiel 3:3) The prophets heard the voice of God. And they offer to us a beautiful imagery as they declare to us that the Word of God is sweeter than honey (Jer. 15; Ez 3). Honey is what we relish. We take it into our mouth and we enjoy its taste for awhile. That is how the Word of God is to be taken into our hearts. We don’t quickly swallow it, but slowly and prayerfully relish it so that it may flow into us and be assimilated as a part of us. Then all the grief and all the bitterness vanishes from our life.
Jesus confirms that it is to bring this sweetness into our life that He gives us His words: "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full" (Jn. 15:11). What is offered is the fullness of joy. Joy flows into us along with God’s Word. Life is tough. Very often wrong things happen to us. We get sad and desperate. In such moments what is needed is to turn to God’s Word. As we open out the Bible and hold the Word like honey, the word enters in and become part of our life and our heart. All the sadness vanishes and joy fills our hearts.
But the Lord was now crucified and buried. And everything was indeed over. In fact, they were recounting this sad turn of events to Jesus Himself! The risen Lord was walking with them. But they did not recognise Him. Finally after having heard them out Jesus opened the Scriptures to them and explained how the entire sequence of events was in God’s gracious plan. Every suffering Jesus underwent, the humiliation and betrayal, even His shameful death and burial, were all part of the grand design of God for the salvation of humankind. As they were listening to the Word, joy filled their hearts and they would recall, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?" (Lk. 24:32)
He shared his problems with me. I opened to him the psalm which read, "O God, if thy word had not become the delight of my heart I would have perished in my affliction." (Psalm 119:92) I explained to him that the entire issue was simply that the Word of God has not become the joy of his heart. I prevailed on him to read God’s Word every day for half an hour. He was not to merely read but must relish God’s Word and feel God speaking through this Word to him personally. The live presence of God was waiting to be manifested to him. This is the truth. When I read the Bible I am not just reading any book. Of course the Bible is a book. But it is much more than a book. It is the living Word flowing into my heart from the very heart of God. From the heart of God along with the Word the power and the joy of God rush in to flood me.
I met this engineer a few months later. His life had changed much. He joyfully shared how he found God’s Word so meaningful and relevant in his daily experiences, "God’s Word has turned my life into a joyous experience. Of course, the problems in the office have not changed much. But I am not distressed. I turn to God’s word. Every morning I wake up with anticipation to hear what God had to say to me that day. I meditate on His message for a while. I memorise a few verses. I repeat these verses during the moments when things are slipping out of control. Very soon I am able to recapture that sense of God’s presence in my work. I find my life and my work have become very beautiful, very joyous."
Life indeed is beautiful when we live it with Jesus. This is the offer the Lord makes to us today. There may be moments when we may become sad. But our sadness will be turned to joy when the Word of God becomes "the lamp to our feet and light to our path." This really is progression, this really is a moving on if God's word is in our hearts.
"I Have Laid Up Your Word In My Heart That I Might Not Sin Against You." (Psalm 119:11)
God’s Word is the truth of life. Jesus while praying to the Father declared, "your word is truth." (John 17:17) And to the people He explained, "Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?" (Mark 12:24) It is wisdom to understand that every sin of my heart was due to this – I had not kept God’s Word. The downfall of humankind came from this disaster. Right in the garden of Paradise the devil came with a lie to our first parents. He approached them and proclaimed that God was not to be trusted. God did not want their good for He was insecure that the humans would become like Him, Satan explained. And distorting the purpose of God, Satan declared that was why God had commanded them not to eat the fruit of that tree. The devil pressed on them to reach for the forbidden fruit as they would become like God and would experience great delight. They found Satan’s proposition acceptable. They took the word of Satan as truth and abandoned the word of God. This false conviction brought disaster onto humankind. We cannot blame Adam and Eve. We have not fared better. All the time the world is telling us blatant lies that contradict God’s Word. The world declares that if I must achieve some thing in life, if I must become successful, rich and famous, I must pursue the path of evil. I cannot afford to follow the Word of God. This lie has spread rampantly, playing havoc in the lives of the people and in families.
It is in this sad background of the world that you and I need to make a commitment. A personal commitment to God where His Word will be the lamp to our feet and the joy of our heart. We need to swear by an oath to keep His Word at every moment and situation because His Word is the truth. Jesus assures us "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." (Matthew 24:35)The Word of God remains forever to give us courage and conviction, security and salvation. When we meditate on the Word and make it a part of our experience, the Word of God enters our life and will sustain us through every change that happens around us.
"In My Mouth As Sweet As Honey" (Ezekiel 3:3) The prophets heard the voice of God. And they offer to us a beautiful imagery as they declare to us that the Word of God is sweeter than honey (Jer. 15; Ez 3). Honey is what we relish. We take it into our mouth and we enjoy its taste for awhile. That is how the Word of God is to be taken into our hearts. We don’t quickly swallow it, but slowly and prayerfully relish it so that it may flow into us and be assimilated as a part of us. Then all the grief and all the bitterness vanishes from our life.
Jesus confirms that it is to bring this sweetness into our life that He gives us His words: "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full" (Jn. 15:11). What is offered is the fullness of joy. Joy flows into us along with God’s Word. Life is tough. Very often wrong things happen to us. We get sad and desperate. In such moments what is needed is to turn to God’s Word. As we open out the Bible and hold the Word like honey, the word enters in and become part of our life and our heart. All the sadness vanishes and joy fills our hearts.
"The Word Of God Is Living And Active" (Hebrews 4:12)The disciples have always experienced this intervention of joy in the dark moments as they opened their lives to the Word. The evangelist Luke describes the experience of two disciples, Cleophas and his companion. (Luke 24) They were journeying back to their village Emmaus. This was after the death and burial of Jesus. They were very bitter, defeated, angry and frightened. The one hope of their life was gone. They had hoped that Jesus would establish the kingdom and they would have high positions in this new kingdom.
But the Lord was now crucified and buried. And everything was indeed over. In fact, they were recounting this sad turn of events to Jesus Himself! The risen Lord was walking with them. But they did not recognise Him. Finally after having heard them out Jesus opened the Scriptures to them and explained how the entire sequence of events was in God’s gracious plan. Every suffering Jesus underwent, the humiliation and betrayal, even His shameful death and burial, were all part of the grand design of God for the salvation of humankind. As they were listening to the Word, joy filled their hearts and they would recall, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?" (Lk. 24:32)
"My Word... Shall Not Return To Me Empty" (Isaiah 55:11)I remember a highly placed professional who came to me many years ago for advice. He was an engineer, employed in a prestigious firm. He found his work very tough. His employees were not co-operating with him, the superiors were always finding fault with him and things were not going well even with his own performance. Every day he would come home tired, burdened, sad and angry. He shared these problems with his friends. They would listen to him for awhile. Slowly he understood that his friends had no time for him. They were busy with their own problems. Who has time for anyone in this busy world? He stopped approaching his friends. Meanwhile the problems were getting very acute. He took to the bottle in an attempt to relieve his stress. He became addicted to alcohol. This made him feel more defeated and more depressed. He knew he had embarked on the road to self destruction. He was shattered. It was at this point of his life that he came to me for help.
He shared his problems with me. I opened to him the psalm which read, "O God, if thy word had not become the delight of my heart I would have perished in my affliction." (Psalm 119:92) I explained to him that the entire issue was simply that the Word of God has not become the joy of his heart. I prevailed on him to read God’s Word every day for half an hour. He was not to merely read but must relish God’s Word and feel God speaking through this Word to him personally. The live presence of God was waiting to be manifested to him. This is the truth. When I read the Bible I am not just reading any book. Of course the Bible is a book. But it is much more than a book. It is the living Word flowing into my heart from the very heart of God. From the heart of God along with the Word the power and the joy of God rush in to flood me.
I met this engineer a few months later. His life had changed much. He joyfully shared how he found God’s Word so meaningful and relevant in his daily experiences, "God’s Word has turned my life into a joyous experience. Of course, the problems in the office have not changed much. But I am not distressed. I turn to God’s word. Every morning I wake up with anticipation to hear what God had to say to me that day. I meditate on His message for a while. I memorise a few verses. I repeat these verses during the moments when things are slipping out of control. Very soon I am able to recapture that sense of God’s presence in my work. I find my life and my work have become very beautiful, very joyous."
Life indeed is beautiful when we live it with Jesus. This is the offer the Lord makes to us today. There may be moments when we may become sad. But our sadness will be turned to joy when the Word of God becomes "the lamp to our feet and light to our path." This really is progression, this really is a moving on if God's word is in our hearts.
A Prayer may be in order here.
Lord Jesus, You are the Word that became flesh to save us from our own self destruction. I thank You for offering your own self to me in the Word. As I read Your Word, Your voice speaks to my heart. Your light shines on me. Your joy flows into me renewing me. Your power raises me up. Your Word has become my joy and my strength. Give me the grace to build my life on Your Word, O Lord, that I may rejoice at all times! O God, let your Word enter into my heart and become the rule of my life, the joy of my living and the peace of my day. Speak to me Lord, Thy servant is listening. I surrender my life to You. Let it be done to me according to Thy Word.
Amen
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