Christmas Lights

Good evening from the Panhandle. Christmas has been over for a few weeks now and I have been taking down my Christmas lights. I love the lights, growing up we didn't have them because my dad had not grown up celebrating Christmas and living in Navy Housing most of the time didn't lend itself to putting up lights. So no Christmas lights, but I told myself when I got my own place I would put up lights. 

The Lord blessed me with a wife who loves Christmas lights too, so I have been putting them up since we got married. Now, here in the Panhandle we put lights on the house and on the fence, plus we have light up Nativity figurines and the odd light up snowman or two. At Christmas time it gets pretty bright in our front yard, not gaudy, but colorful and bright. 

And then Christmas is over and it comes time to take down the lights, figurines, and the snowmen. And then our town becomes dark again. We are a small town and we don't have street lights, oh there are a few security lights but they are spread out over town and most are in backyards so not a lot of light out front. When the lights come down and the darkness of winter settles in I have to confess I get a bit bummed. I miss the lights, I like the way they chase away the gloom, I like the festive look they bring. So now I leave my garage lights on to help beat that feeling.

You know it's easy to let this old world get you down, easy to get swallowed if you will by the darkness. It's like that light at the end of the tunnel keeps moving farther away. Bills to pay, kids that are sick, troubled marriages and on and on until we are completely overwhelmed. Wait this isn't a blog to depress you, it's really about hope so don't quit reading yet.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? (Psalms 27:1). Did you catch that? The Lord is my light... The Lord God is my light and why wouldn't He be after all He was light, is light, and will always be light. And if that weren't enough He shared that light when He created well everything ~ The God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:3-4). And is Ecclesiastes 11:7 we read ~ The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.

Now that we have seen that God created Light and that it is good and pleasing I want to talk to you about an everlasting Light. I put up Christmas lights knowing that in about a month's time I'll be taking them down and yes I'll be bummed for awhile when I do. But there is a Light that came and became a part of human history for awhile. In fact His birth was marked by a special event and a special light; And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. (Luke 2:9). 

The glory, the light of God shone around the angles as they announced the birth of the Light of the World. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:1-5). And who is this Light? Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." (John 8:12). Christ Jesus, the Great I Am, God/man is the Light and His Light will never be extinguished, unplugged, or taken down at the end of a season. Not only that but His Light brings life everlasting.

for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light(for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), ...But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says,
"Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you." (Ephesians 5:8-9, 13-14). 

Yes, the Christmas lights come down and are put away for another year, but the real Light of Christmas is never really put away. Sure some forget about Him, some try to forget about Him, and some deny Him. But Christ Jesus is there shinning His Light of forgiveness, His Light of redemption, His Light of Love. And He wants to be the Light of your life shinning in you, through you and guiding you each and every day. 

So put away the Christmas lights and feel a little bummed it's okay. But remember the One True Light, Christ Jesus and know that He burns bright year round from the very beginning until, how long is all eternity and beyond again? 

Biblesurfer