It is kind of ironic to choose the shortest day of the year to write about light. Yes, I know, every day has 24 hours, but I’m talking about the shortest day of the year in terms of light. While Peace, Hope, Joy, and Love are the individual themes of Advent; light is probably the greatest overarching theme. The prophets often talked about light when referring to Jesus, as does New Testament scripture. Jesus said; “I am the light of the world.”
Isaiah writes (9:2): “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them.”
Darkness is often used to describe our sinful nature, our separation from God and light used to describe Jesus who shines through the darkness and overcomes the darkness. Psalm 46:9 follows up on this thought: “You are the source of all life, and because of Your light we see the light.”
One of the things I have learned about light is that it needs to reflect off from something to truly light up an area. If you shine a light straight up in the air, it doesn’t really light up anything. Shine that same light in a 30×30 room and it lights it up; even more if the room is painted white. Have you ever noticed how much lighter is it with a blanket of snow?
As I thought about light and reflection, a C.S. Lewis quote came to mind: “We are mirrors whose brightness is wholly derived from the sun that shines upon us.” When we look at this in light of our faith in God, our creator, we could easily substitute the word sun with Son in that quote. Jesus has called us to be partners with Him in His ministry, and one way to look at that partnership is to be a mirror. We are to be a mirror that reflects the image, the light of Jesus Christ in the world.
Take some time to focus today on how you can reflect Christ’s light to others and then make a plan to do just that.
Prayer: Father, You are my light in a world where darkness can easily close in on me. I thank You for Your Word, which is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Help me to be a reflector of that light to others. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
I’ve been aware of the Solstice all day today – in fact it’s almost exactly “the time” right now (5:23 pm EST, 12/21/18). While walking my newly adopted dog at 7 am, I needed a headlamp to light our way. There was very little for the tiny lamp to reflect off of (except the light snow flurries). What a dark physical world! But our spiritual world need not be dark.
Thank for the reminder of the Light of the Son who truly lights the Way. May He be my headlamp, and reflect off of me to be a light to everyone around!