The light of Christmas: Let light shine out of darkness
Isaiah 9:2 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”
Of the many things which are a part of the earthly celebration of Christmas, think of the role lights play in that celebration. At this time of the year, it is hard t
o miss how people have candles in the windows, the time and effort put into light displays in parks, at businesses and on homes and the lights on the Christmas trees we see everywhere.
Now think of how things will look a week or two from now. The candles will get put away for another year, the light displays and Christmas trees will come down and much of that light will disappear.
Yes, the days are getting a little longer, but what will we use to replace the massive amount light we have gotten used to seeing and enjoying these last few weeks?
In our Bible verse for this week, which is one of Isaiah’s prophecies of the coming of Jesus 700 years before he came, we are reminded of a light which we can carry with us all through our lives. Jesus as the light of the world is the picture Isaiah uses in this verse. Not just or primarily a light to cut through the darkness of night, but even more importantly a light to cut through the darkness of sin.
What a Christmas gift God gives us! To know that as we kneel at the manger and receive God’s Christmas gift to us we are receiving a light which will illuminate the difficult days in the year ahead. As we see that little baby we can be assured that we have someone to guide us through the uncertain and unclear times in life. And most of all we can rejoice that that little baby was born to grow up to be a man who would die and take away the deepest darkness in the our lives, the darkness of sin, and give us free and complete forgiveness of each one of our sins!
Think of it this way. Each one of those candles and Christmas lights is a visible and visual reminder to us of the light we have which never goes out. Try as the devil may, he cannot take away from us God’s Christmas light which will be there for us each day of our life.
May that Christmas light shine in your heart and life today and always!