Look to the Light
Jesus said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Like for all of us this year, Christmas in our house felt very different. With plans out of the window at the eleventh hour I was left feeling disappointed and sad at a time when we were meant to be focusing on the joy of celebrating the birth of Jesus. Saying that, although wrestling with my own feelings during the time, every time we left home and drove passed other people’s houses, admiring their trees and lights, both outside and through their windows, I was reminded over and over again of the difference that light makes to the appearance of something.
We had trees up in our house this year. The first was what you may describe as a ‘normal’ artificial Christmas tree, with colourful baubles and lights, and the second was a much simpler looking tree; it was plain with bare branches and small lights woven round the twigs. I sat and looked at this tree in our living room over the Christmas period. In some ways I felt like that tree; bare, desolate and without much feeling of hope in the midst of the situation we face, and then I turned on the lights, and what a difference it made! In those days that felt dark for me, God reminded me again that I must choose to look for the light in the middle of the darkness; I must choose to switch on the light, to look to His light and fix my attention on Him at all times and through all seasons of life.
As we came to put our Christmas decorations away at the start of this new year, I felt prompted to keep out my bare tree as a reminder that every day, whatever the circumstance or situation, the choice is ours as to whether we will look for the Light. Will we keep looking to Jesus, keep looking for glimmers of hope and His gentle whisper that brings calm, peace and reassurance, or will we instead try and do things on our own? Some days the choice is easy, other days the choice becomes more difficult as circumstances threaten to overwhelm us and rob us of our sense of peace that only Jesus can bring. But when we choose to look for the light, when we choose to fix our eyes on Jesus, we find that He is still everything we ever need; He is still our unchanging, faithful friend; He is still by our side, cheering us on, loving us like no other and warming our hearts with the gentle whisper of His love. So today, whatever you’re facing or however you’re feeling, why not choose to look for the light in your situation by looking to the Light of the World Himself, and see what difference He can make in even the darkest of times.
A Worship song that has become popular in The Salvation Army in recent years says,
“As I choose to fix my eyes on you there is nothing I would rather do than worship.”
As we choose to fix our eyes on Jesus again, may we find Him to be everything we need and even more besides!
Amen.
