Light!

We celebrate our birthdays by lighting candles on a cake, one for each year of life. It's a symbol of our loved one's presence on this earth and our delight in his or her place in our lives.

But Jesus is referred to in the scriptures as a "great light." And so a mere birthday cake and candles will not suffice for His birthday.
We decorate a fragrant Christmas tree and plug in the lights, amid "oohs" and "ahs" at its beauty.
We string lights around the exterior of our homes, sometimes migrating to nearby trees and bushes. Our neighbors look out their windows and enjoy the bright scene, too.
Mainstreet, USA goes to great lengths to lure shoppers down to its businesses with beautiful, festive music and colorful light displays. Even those who'd never enter a church or read the Christmas story appreciate the lights.

But why do we all love lights so much? I believe God has built into each human the instinctive hunger for truth. Our journey will be difficult at times. We do not want to "stumble in the darkness," or be "in the dark," or have the "wool pulled over our eyes." We know that, just as light is necessary for our well-being, light also yields truth. And that truth is a flash-light for illuminating our way when life's path is dim.

When we can "shed some light" on a subject, or "see our way clear," or expierience "a light at the end of the tunnel" we breathe a sigh of relief.

So when that Christmas tree blinks, winks and twinkles, and we gaze admiringly at the beautiful star at the tree-top, we are reminded that a "great Light" came into the world to give us God's perfect Truth.

"I have come as a light in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in Me will no longer remain in the dark." (John 12:46, New Living Translation)