It is the greatest gift to know this light personally. We rejoice that in real space and time it became the "I am". The lights at Christmas reminds me of the wondrous incomprehensible incarnation.
| The Light of the World |
 One of the privileges of living in Natchitoches is seeing the lights at Christmas. The city does a miraculous job each year of turning the town into a Christmas wonderland of lights. Merely walking down the streets can give you a sense of peace and joy. For all the beauty of the lights, they only shine in the dark. The darkness gives the lights their brilliance. We all live in a type of darkness. The world around us seems confused, aimless and slow, as if the people go through life stumbling around in a darkened room stubbing their toes on the coffee table. It only takes a moment of honesty to discover that we also live in that same darkness. This darkness of sin rests not merely in the evil activity around us, but within our own hearts. We find ourselves groping in the dark, and that scares us. It scares us because we know the darkness comes as the light of God’s favor has turned away from us because of the evil within us. It is this darkness that we need most desperately driven away. The fear of the dark never really leaves us. Our own aimlessness drives us to denial. We don’t like thinking about it. We stuff our lives full of entertainment, relationships, and activity to mask the inky darkness that lies at the very root of who we are, what some call the “soul.” We want to deny its existence, but in the quiet we cannot escape the dark night of our own souls. We don’t like the dark, and yet without the darkness Christmas loses some of its brilliance. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”(John 8:12) At Christmas we remember that the baby in the manger came to bring our dark world light. He came to dispel the darkness of sin with the light of His righteousness. He took upon himself the darkness we deserved in order that the light of God’s favor could shine upon us. Unless we acknowledge the darkness of sin, we cannot enjoy the light of Jesus’ glory. It was not an accident that a star led the magi to Jesus. It was not by chance that the angels visited the shepherds with the illumination of the glory of the Lord. This baby came to bring us light. When you follow Jesus, He dispels the darkness of your sin. He fills you with the light of His righteousness, and gives you peace. Will you continue to grope in the darkness or will you come to the light? We wish you a happy and blessed Christmas, a Christmas celebrating the birth of the Light of the World, the child that offers you light and peace.
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