Light but not Lightweight

“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.” Psalm 89:15

Was Jesus born in December? There was a period of time when celebrating Christmas on December 25^th was illegal in England and America. Hard to believe, but it came from the Puritan conviction that the Bible did not dictate a specific day and neither should we. We seem to be passed that difficulty but still the question remains – why December?  One “far out” reason for the late December date is linked to astronomy. We, in the Northern Hemisphere, can appreciate this fact as the winter solstice arrives close to Christmas and marks the shortest day and longest night of the year. The light of our everyday world wanes up to this point and darkness seems to dominate.

This fact is significant because of its spiritual implications. Christmas comes just on the other side of the solstice – things are beginning to brighten. Darkness does not triumph. Christ, the Light of the World, is with us and has broken the hold of increasing darkness of sin, the devil, and death.

God’s agenda is to affect all of life by animating it with the light of truth, beauty and goodness. In our time, this is counter-cultural and works against our culture’s program of “secularism”. Secularism wants to convince us that thoughts about God and His light are entirely a private affair and socially irrelevant. Yet history has proven that democracy unfettered from a morality that references absolutes only leads to demoralization and despair. Let’s seek to live in a spirit of giving praise and testimony to Christ as the Light of the World and look for opportunities to radiate His light.