The Light of the World

As I sit down to write a final post for the year of 2020, my mind went, once again, to the subject of light which I shared about yesterday in a post on this blog.

In the same way that our physical bodies need sunlight (vitamin D) to function optimally, our spiritual well being also depends on light - God's light. 

This month, many Christians celebrated the holiday of Christmas while Jewish people celebrated the holiday of Hanukkah. Both holidays are in the winter when the sun sets early, and there is more darkness than daylight hours; both are holidays of light. 

Christians remember and celebrate the miracle of the birth of Christ, God's Son and promised Messiah, while Jewish people remember and celebrate the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days in the Temple menorah when there was only enough oil to last one day!   

Jesus, the Son of God, was born as God's light into this dark, broken, and weary world. Although Jesus was likely not born on Christmas, many churches hold a "candlelight service" on Christmas Eve offering single candles for people to hold during the service while remembering the night Christ was born. 

Jewish families gather around their menorah (called a hanukkiah) during the eight nights of Hanukkah to light a new candle each night. The candles remind them of the miracle God did after the Maccabees rededicated the Temple to God after it had been defiled. It's a beautiful story with many, wonderful, spiritual applications for our own lives. 

Both of these holidays are centered around God's miracles and light.

This year, many people seemed to enjoy the holidays in an extra special way because of how difficult the year of 2020 has been, primarily due to the coronavirus. 

Members of my family said they saw a lot more lights on homes this holiday season than they remember seeing in years past. People are craving light and joy during what has been an extremely difficult year for many. 

Our world is a dark and uncertain place right now with a "pandemic" going on. Evil is abounding exactly like Jesus said would happen before His return. (Matthew 24:12)  

Mankind is lost without God. The family or home you come from, the race you come from, the ethnic group you come from, or the spiritual background you come from does not matter - all of us are lost in the darkness of sin without God.

The apostle John is my favorite writer in the Bible. John is known for writing a lot about God's love, but John also wrote a lot about God being the Light, and about our need for that Light! 

Consider these verses:

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." John 1:4 

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 

He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John 1:6-9 

"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." 1 John 1:5 

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7 

These Bible verses remind me of a precious song that my mom taught me and my siblings when we were children. The song is titled, The Light of the World is Jesus. The words to this song are below.

Just as Jesus offers us living water and rest for our souls, He is also the Light of the world! 

1. The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin;

The light of the world is Jesus;

Like sunshine at noonday His glory shone in,

The light of the world is Jesus.

2. No darkness have we who in Jesus abide,

The light of the world is Jesus;

We walk in the light when we follow our Guide,

The light of the world is Jesus.

3. Ye dwellers in darkness with sin-blinded eyes,

The light of the world is Jesus;

Go, wash, at His bidding, and light will arise;

The light of the world is Jesus.

Chorus: 

Come to the light, ’tis shining for thee;

Sweetly the light has dawned upon me;

Once I was blind, but now I can see;

The light of the world is Jesus.