“ The people that walk in darkness have seen a great light………” Isaiah 9:2.

Light is something that is inextricably bound up with Christmas. The twinkling lights on the Christmas tree, the Yule log, and the warm glow of candles, fill us with cheer even in the midst of our various problems.

God has always envisaged a world of light for His creatures. His creative word “Let there be light,”

broke through the primeval darkness, so that life could exist on earth.

But the world soon became steeped in the darkness of sin, and God had to send His son, to dispel that darkness, so that people could see and acknowledge the Truth. Seven hundred years before the coming of this Light, Isaiah prophesied about it. Jesus the Light of God’s Glory, shone forth from that lowly manger, two thousand years ago. During His earthly ministry, Jesus unequivocally declared it, (Jn 8:12.) and promised that all who follow Him would never see darkness.

He is the Light that exposes the magnitude of our sin and offers redemption;

He is the Light that breaks through the darkness of spiritual death and bestows Eternal life;

He is the Light that reveals the truth about God’s love, and guides us on our journey through life.

We dare not crawl back into the dark shadows of sin, and wonder why our Christmas is not so bright, or why we lack the joy and vitality that the Season brings.

“ Light shines in darkness, but the darkness understood it not,” says John.(Jn1:5) Fears and doubts lurk in the shadows. We therefore need to steps out into the brilliance of God’s light, and experience the joy of Salvation.(2 Cor.4:6.) Only then can we become beacons of hope and courage, in a world gone awry through violence and scepticism.

May the candles we light this Christmas illumine the world with the love of Christ, and fill our land with the Father’s Glory.(lk.11:33.)