Friday December 17, 2021
LIGHT
SCRIPTURE: Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.’
John 8:12
Lights are everywhere at Christmas time. It is lovely how they add a glow to long, dark winter nights. I wonder how often, or at all, that looking at Christmas lights makes us think of Christ and His being the light of the world, or even of the light of the star over His manger at His birth in Bethlehem.
I have a wonderful memory from early childhood of Christmas lights. It was “back-in-the-day” when the first blinking lights came out. Back then, each light bulb blinked independently and was the size of a nightlight bulb. Other lights did not blink. On one particular night, as I was snuggled safe and warm with my Dad, we just watched the ever-changing patterns of light on the ceiling from the lights on the Christmas tree. It was mesmerizing! Eventually, my eyes drifted over to our nativity. There was just one, unblinking, plain light illuminating the manger. It was very different. It was still. It had a different message to share. Then, before long, my attention was drawn back to the pretty, colorful, and blinking lights and their continuous and random pattern changes on the ceiling.
How often are we distracted from the true light that would lead us out of our personal darkness by the pretty, sparkly “lights” of this world? It is easy to get distracted. However, we are always being called by God to take some time to focus our attention on the true light of the world, His Son, Jesus Christ.
PRAYER: Dear God, Thank you for sending us the “true light of the world”. Jesus is the gift that lights every step of our life’s path. Help us to remain focused on the light of Christ amid the many distractions of this world, especially during this season. Amen.
Denise Clark, CLM
