Scripture References: Matthew 2:1-12

Light in the Darkness – Continued

The story is told of a young Jewish girl in a Warsaw ghetto who managed to escape over the wall and hide in a cave. She died there shortly before the Allied Army came to deliver her. Before she died however, she scratched on the wall three things: First, “I believe in the sun even though it is not shining.” Second, “I believe in love, even when not feeling it.” Third, “I believe in God, even when He is silent.”

We are like the old-time mariners of the sea guided by the North Star. When the star is hidden by a heavy overcast, we know it is still shining, that the overcast will sooner or later pass, and the star will reappear. In the meantime we keep sailing, remembering the direction where we last saw the star.

So in the darkest hours we keep remembering the light we have seen in Jesus, believing it is more powerful than the overcast which temporarily hides it. We are sure that His light alone is strong and that someday it will completely rout and destroy all the powers of darkness, not leaving behind them a trace of their presumed glory. Then will come the perfectly lighted city with not a shadow of darkness in it.

Walking in the Light

The New Testament assures us that Christ delivers us from the powers of darkness into His marvelous light. There is a fragment of an early Christian hymn that Paul uses in his letter to the Ephesians: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:14). We, therefore become children of light. “For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5).

We are to walk in the light we have seen in Jesus, be reflectors of it, and “proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). We should not forget what Jesus, who confessed that He was the light of the world, said of His followers: “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).

Let us make a determination and pledge ourselves to walking in the light we have seen at Christmas. Let us not forget that the star that shone through the darkness of that first Christmas was His star. Let us walk in confidence, believing that if we are faithful to the light we have today more light will be given tomorrow, more the next day, and more the next, until at last we shall walk into the perfect day.

Please keep this in mind and remember that Jesus came as a weak and fragile child, a baby dependent wholly on others when He first came. He is coming again and there will be a final Christmas at His second coming, but He will be neither weak, nor fragile, for He will be coming with the host of angels, sounding the trumpet call, to announce to those believing in Him, that He is taking His bride, His church, home to be with Him and our heavenly Father!

A Blessed Christmas to all who walk in His love and light.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
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