The first few weeks in January seem so dark. The Christmas lights go out, and we are left with a dark, ordinary world. In Nebraska, it seems to go very dark and very cold once the Christmas twinkle is gone. We are the last ones in our neighborhood to turn off our Christmas lights. I usually wait until I get a look from our neighbor saying, “It is time, or I will report you.” Otherwise, I would keep them on until spring.
The most magical time of the year ends. The twinkles go out, but our HOPE does not. It just is getting started. Jesus was born. Hope was born.
I think about what life would have been like without Christmas, and it really leads me to one conclusion. It would be dark and hopeless. And then I realize that when one doesn’t know the baby who was born in a manger, who would later die to give us eternal freedom, they still feel hopeless. And in January when the lights go out, the world for them might be just a little bit darker.
The Shepard’s saw baby Jesus with the Christmas twinkle. The star which shown so brightly in the sky that it lit an undeniable path. There was light. Bright Christmas lights. Bright Christmas Hope. And their lives were forever changed because they met the Savior! After that, the world does not go dark again.
If this January the World seems dark, please go meet the Savior. He is the who makes the world bright again. Who makes the Christmas season sparkle and the days after it not so dark and cold, but bright and hopeful. Jesus is the one who lights the world. Not the colorful lights or the pretty decorations, but Jesus alone.
“I am the Light of the world. So if you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, for living light will flood your path.” – John 8:12
