The Amazing Christmas Story - Part 4

Every year, just after Thanksgiving, I begin to look for Christmas lights. Not the commercial mall or store displays that go up before Halloween, but the lights that people put on their houses. It is fun to watch more and more houses decorated. More than once we have gone way out of our way to drive down a street where we spotted lights from an intersection. Normally, I try to be an electricity miser, reminding everyone in our household to turn out lights and shut off appliances that aren't being used. But when Christmas comes, it all changes. The more lights the better. The picture you see on this page is one of the days right after Thanksgiving. It was in the mid 80s the day that Shawn and I hung our outdoor lights. When we lived in Colorado and St. Louis, we froze some years trying to get the lights up. This year we were sweating by the time we were done. But it didn't matter, there is something about lights and Christmas that simply go together.

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah first put light and Christmas together. Looking into the future, he wrote: The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined. (Isaiah 9:2) The meaning of his words became clear when, seven centuries later, a man named Simeon saw the Christ Child and proclaimed in prayer: I have seen the Savior You have given the world, the Light that will shine upon the nations. (Luke 2:30-32) It is amazing what just a little pin point of light will do to darkness. It's even more amazing to see an entire block of houses lit up in the most creative ways. Even the most crooked string of lights gives off a glow that shines through the night.

So while we should all try and conserve energy, at Christmas, I think its okay to turn on the lights! Jesus Christ, the Light of Christmas, has come!