Christmas Lights in the Darkness

With winter drawing near, days grow shorter and driving home means picking my way down our long, dark country road in the snow. Familiar houses become shadows. Trees and bushes blur into misshapen patches of black.

Until something magical takes place …

Our neighborhood gets busy decorating. Christmas lights appear on bushes and trees, around windows and within wreaths on doors. More lights festoon the eaves of our houses. Some neighbors include outdoor creches where baby Jesus is looked on adoringly by Mary and Joseph.

What a difference a wonderland of lights makes as I turn onto our road after dark! Lighting the darkness, it cheers my heart and points the way home.

Unfortunately, as with the recent attacks in Paris, our world grows darker, and we wish we knew a light to point the way to safety. The good news is that God sent that Light into the world more than two thousand years ago. We’re told that his “light shines through the darkness (John 1:5, NLT), and his name is Jesus. Whatever the darkness troubling our hearts, he is the Light we desperately need.

This Christmas season, we can dispel darkness by inviting him into our lives and letting him show us his good way. “Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in to stay. Reveal your ways to me, forgive me of my wrong-doing, and light the way to your Father’s house in heaven as I travel the days of my life here on earth. Thank you. Amen.

Having done this, hope crests in our hearts, and we find joy in the prophet Isaiah’s encouraging words.

Focus: “Rise, shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you!” ~ Isaiah 60:1 (NKJV).

How about you? Have you invited Jesus into your life? Do you know the joy of his eternal Light dispelling your darkness? How did it happen for you?