Are Your Christmas Lights Still Aglow?

In so many households, the light of Christmas is snuffed out soon after the presents have been unwrapped, the cookies eaten, the calendar purged of merriment, the last carols have been sung, and all the unresolved issues in the marriage and family return to usher in darkness.

Jesus came as a Light of the World and commissioned us, His daughters to embody the message of Christmas—God’s grace, forgiveness, peace, and good will. Not always easy as jam-packed calendars, strained budgets and fractured relationships (heightened by unrealistic expectations) often leave us spent in every regard. I remember the days when my in-laws would typically arrive a week early to celebrate Christmas with us; I was rarely ready, and the stress of preparing “company food” for days on end, and keeping a festive (though sometimes rowdy) household seemed over the top at times. Sad to say, by week’s end, His light in me was dim at best.

Maybe you, too, are feeling like the lights are going out at your house. All the more reason for us at this time of year to stay plugged in, to return with those wise men from the east to worship the God who humbled Himself to become a babe—Emmanuel. Let us find refreshment in His presence. God took on human flesh with its frailty to show us the extent of His love for us. God with us! God FOR us! Jesus was over-worked, knew family rivalry and contention, was shunned, betrayed, and yet the darkness did NOT overcome His light.

Ours is a world in need! And meeting their need won’t always be convenient. I’ll never forget the day after Christmas one year when Bob’s family had packed up for home after spending the week with us only to return a couple of hours later. The snow-packed roads between St. Louis and Chicago were too treacherous for safe travel. I had been ready to turn out the lights and settle in for a “long winter’s nap.” That was put on hold. But need also means opportunity—opportunity to let your light shine.

Many (and maybe some in your household, family, or among your neighbors) do not know the Light that “has shone in our hearts to give (US) the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” and they are straining to see daylight and hope. We are people of the light. Are the lights of Christmas still shining at your house?

We at Hidden Heart Ministry pray that the light of Christ will shine brighter and brighter in your heart and home throughout the New Year and invade the encroaching darkness to the glory of God!

“… let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)