A lot of things have been
happening recently. The weather has definitely changed to winter, the days are
shorter and colder, and we finally got snow at the beginning of the week. I had my last kid’s Day event of the season
last week, and am taking my English Conversation group on a small field trip to
see the city and Christmas lights tonight. Christmas lights have been up for a
while and Christmas day is in one week. One theme that seems to keep coming to
me through all of this is light.
Here in December, the sun starts
setting around 3:30pm and it is dark by 4pm. It can be somewhat depressing,
especially for me when I come from a place where is it sunny almost all the
time. And with the snow here, it is very cloudy and mostly overcast. It has been
5 days since I last saw blue skies. So when the sun shines here, I have learned
to enjoy it, even though those days are colder than sunny days. (Go figure..)
So I have learned not to take the sun for granted, and it makes me smile when I
see the sun.
Christmas lights go up early
around here. The malls and a lot of stores already had their lights and
decorations up by the end of October. One nice thing about the lights here is
that they stay up for a long time. A lot of stores have a public display of
lights that face the main street, and they keep it up for most of the winter.
It certainly brings a little more cheer and light to the short days and long
evenings.
With the shorter days and lack of
sunshine, depression can be a common thing around here. Even I can sometimes
feel depressed or lazy because of the lack of sunshine. But I was again
reminded of light this week. What came to my mind was a song:
“Thy
word is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.”
(based on Psalm 119:105)
and a light unto my path.”
(based on Psalm 119:105)
How often do we forget that? Light
is used so often as a word to describe God’s ways, His word, and even God
himself. For the past Kid’s Days events, we have been going through different
stories in Judges. Last week we discussed Ruth, and ended up concentrating on
the light in that story. We had talked about how Ruth’s faith in God had been a
light of hope to her, and how later her son became a light for her family. That
son became the grandfather of King David, who was a light for Israel in their
dark days. And David became an ancestor of Jesus who was the true light that
God sent. How amazing is that! That tiny light of hope for Israel, during their
dark days of the judges, grew and became the greatest light that would be a
light for all mankind.
“The
people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.”
(Isaiah 9:2)
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.”
(Isaiah 9:2)
Jesus is that light. I love how
God used light to proclaim the birth of his Son. When the shepherds in the
fields were told of Jesus’ birth, “the glory of the Lord shone around them.”
(Luke 2:9) God’s glory “shone,” it shined on them. What else shines besides
light? Not a lot of things shine without light of some sort, be it natural or
man-made. I think that God’s glory had to be one of the brightest lights that
shone on the shepherds that night. God again used light when he created a star
to guide the wise men to Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:1-12) Stars are already very
bright. They are millions of miles away and yet we can still see their light in
the evening. This star had to be big and brighter than all the others for these
men to take notice of it. God had something special to share with the world,
and they knew it because of that star.
We take stars for granted today,
just like we do our sun (which is a star!). We consider stars to be a romantic
thing, we make wishes on stars, we have picnics under the stars, and we predict
our futures by the stars. But what are stars? They are technically great balls
of gas, but they are a source of light. Where does that light come from? From
God!
“And
God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light
was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light
Day, and the darkness, he called Night. And there was evening and there was
morning, the first day.”
(Genesis 1:3-5)
(Genesis 1:3-5)
The first thing God created was
light! God showed himself to Moses and Israel as forms of light; to Moses as a
burning bush (Ex 3:2), and to Israel as a pillar of fire to lead their way (Ex
13:21-22). When the Son of God was born, light was used to proclaim his birth
(Matt 2:1-12, Luke 2:9). Jesus called himself a light: “I am the light of the
world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of
life.” (John 8:12) When Jesus was transfigured, “his face shone like the sun,
and his clothes became white as light.” (Matt 17:2) God is light. There is no
question about that.
I just hope that brings you
comfort and joy this Christmas season. May we always be thankful for the light
and not take it for granted. May it remind us that God is with us and that He
has overcome the world.
“For
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 1:5)
and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 1:5)
Merry Christmas!!!
