SHARE THE LIGHT OF CHRIST
Excerpted from Jesus Light of the World:
10 Christmas Reflections on the Life and Light of Christ
by Our Daily Bread
We live in a dark world. Sometimes our circumstances seem hopeless. Often the darkness is within us, the pitch-black void of our own sin. We try to make our own light for a time, but our energy for positive thinking runs out.
Christmas time, as the world celebrates it, is a hollow show of artificial lights that masks the darkness of the cave all its inhabitants are trapped in. It’s easy to get caught up in the pretence of twinkle, failing to remember what true Christmas really is.
True Christmas starts not with lights on a string but with our personal darkness — the life we sometimes feel lost and trapped in. True Christmas isn’t about glitter and tinsel, but about our realization of how desperately we need to be rescued.
One night more than two thousand years ago, Christ was born, emerging from the dark waters of our history and shining into the world a glowing circle of hope. Jesus 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)
Yes, the true meaning of Christmas starts with the realization of our own darkness. It celebrates the light of Jesus Christ illuminating that darkness. And it becomes the encouragement–the hope of Christ–that we’ll someday be delivered into the light of His presence.
Praise God!
At Christmas this year, may we all say gratefully to Christ,
“Thank you for rescuing us!”