"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined." Isaiah 9:2, NKJV

On our way home the other night, our family decided to take a little detour into a particular neighborhood in Highlands Ranch.  We had recently read in the news about a certain home featured in this season's The Great Christmas Light Fight TV show, and we wanted to see it for ourselves (along with dozens of others that night!)  There's something about Christmas lights that has captivated me since my childhood.  Sure, I enjoy the design and symmetry of a great display, even the creativity and technology behind others.  But for me, I think it boils down to simply seeing light in the darkness.  Light that chases away shadows and illuminates the night sky.  It has a drawing power, a settling, healing influence.  During the Christmas season, we're celebrating the arrival of what Isaiah calls a "great light" (Isa. 9:2), and that Light surely does shine upon us with healing power.

John points to the enduring power of Christ's first Advent in similar terms:  "In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (Jn. 1:4-5, NIV).  Read those lines again, and don't let the simplicity of them disguise their significance.  Whatever darkness we may be walking in for a season, or whatever shadows we seem to permanently reside in, they are no match for the shining light of Jesus.  Jesus' arrival on that lonely night in Bethlehem announces light to all our darkness!

I love how Titus describes this epic phase of redemptive history as the time "when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared" (Ti. 3:4, NIV).  THAT's the light we have always needed since humanity's fall, the revelation that God loves us with an everlasting love and has not forsaken us to bear sin's curse on our own.  

The infinite love of God in Christ demonstrates that He loves us even more than His own existence!  

As the familiar carol sings, "Long lay the world, In sin and error pining, Till He appeared, And the soul felt its worth."  The appearance of Jesus brings to light our soul worth and God's sure plan to save us, "not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy" (Ti. 3:5, NIV).

Furthermore, the light of Christ's presence and love saves us in a deeply restoring way.  Jesus doesn't save us from darkness by shooing shadows away, but He heals us of the hurt we've experienced in our dark seasons.  Malachi compares Jesus' arrival to the way the rising sun transforms a darkened, devastated landscape:  "But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings" (Mal. 4:2, NKJV).  Now that is good news!

Friends, what constitutes your present gloom?  What shadows have overwhelmed you this year?  This decade?  I invite you to join me in clinging to the hope that because Jesus has come and is coming again, all our darkness is dispelled and overcome -- all clouded consciences, grieving hearts, broken dreams, lost innocence, all that has made us feel far from God.  With every Christmas light we admire this season, may our hearts turn to the Light who shines in our darkness.  May the Sun of Righteousness truly arise upon us with healing in His wings.