Dave’s Monday Blast – December 18, 2023
Merry Christmas. He is indeed the Reason for the Season!
In that Bethlehem stable the light appeared, but we have a real enemy trying to draw us back to the darkness at every turn. It is for this reason Jesus said in Luke 11:34, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.” Darkness is often tempting to look at because we have yet to experience the immense satisfaction found in the light.
You see, the path out of darkness always begins by looking to the light. We can’t escape darkness if darkness is all we’re looking toward. We can’t escape sin by just focusing on it and trying to fix it, heal it, or set ourselves free. Freedom comes by turning our attention to the God who conquered sin and death and fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. We must allow God’s light to transform us into reflections of His Son. As men are increasingly exposed to the light of Jesus they no longer desire to walk in the darkness, but choose the path that God designed for them; a path filled with light and life.
As Christ-followers, it is our mission to shine the light in a dark world; to show that light and life are found in the person of Christ. All throughout Scripture, God reiterates this consistent, powerful metaphor: light and dark. Scripture depicts the darkness as that which is without God and light as that which has God in it. Ephesians 5:8 says we are “children of light” and it is God’s design for us to walk in the light. This is the message of Christmas: Light returned to a dark world enslaved in sin and men no longer need to walk in darkness.
I don’t know if you have ever heard of the courting candle? (If you do not know what this is, give it a google). It is a tradition used historically by many cultures whereby a candle was used to provide for a courting couple (those intending to wed) a window of mostly unchaperoned time to get to know one another on a personal level.The father would light a candle to shed light upon the conversations (preventing shenanigans). When the candle burned down to length determined by the father, the date was over. Only the father would light the candle to initiate the time to commence the courting, and only the father knew when the time of courting was over. The only thing the couple understood was that their time together was limited and therefore very valuable; they had to make the most of their time in the light.
