Light.
There’s something about twinkling lights around Christmas time that bring much needed joy, excitement and hope to many people across the globe. Maybe it’s because it signals a fresh start and a new year is upon us or maybe it’s because the sights are simply breathtaking this time of year. Whatever the reason, this feeling of hope and joy seems to be a natural instinct when we as humans see something immensely beautiful and breathtaking. It’s a fairly universally understood reaction to light and beauty.
Think about it: Have you ever stopped and watched as a child takes in the joy of a street lined with lights and color at Christmas time? It’s almost as if there is a glimmer of hope in their eyes that infects everyone around them watching them absorb the experience of Christmas lights for the first time. Awe and wonder is found in the twinkle of the child’s eyes the moment they see them. No one taught them this, they simply react to the beauty of light.
Their eyes get bigger, almost as if the bigger their eyes the more beauty they can behold at once. Fully attempting to commit to memory its breathtaking beauty. Anyone that’s gone to see Christmas lights with a child knows that shortly after they see these lights, there comes a desire to touch them, to feel them, to get as close to them as they possibly can. As you faintly hear a voice yelling from down the street “slow down, wait up, don’t touch those lights they aren’t ours.”
As we run after and attempt to wrangle the littles in our life this holiday season, I often wonder if we should become more like them instead. Let me explain.
Isaiah prophesied the coming of Jesus the Messiah in Isaiah chapter 9. In this prophecy he says:
The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.
You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
and its people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest
and like warriors dividing the plunder.
For you will break the yoke of their slavery
and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
You will break the oppressor’s rod …
For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!
After Jesus’ birth in John 8:12 Jesus says and confirms that He in fact is The Light that has come to rescue us from our darkness.
So what does any of this have to do with Christmas lights and how children approach them you ask? Well, it gives a great parallel of how we should be in our pursuit of Jesus, the Light of the World. May we pursue the Light of the World, Jesus, with the same desire as our littles pursue lights on Candy Cane Lane. May we behold Him in all of His beauty with our eyes wide open in anticipation of how He is moving and what He will do next. May we never lose the wonder in what He has done for us. May we let our hearts be refreshed in the new thing He is doing this year.
As we look at lights this holiday season, let it be a reminder of Jesus’ promise to come as The Light that illuminates every dark place. Every area where there has been sorrow, he’s bringing joy. Every area where it has felt hopeless, he is giving you a fresh wind and renewing your hope again. Every area where there has been chaos, He is coming to bring peace to it all. This peace will never end. Every word or action that has been done against you, He is bringing righteous justice to. And His government and rule will never end. This is Jesus. This is the Light of the World that now lives inside of us and is coming back again.
Be encouraged friends!
– Shannon Tyree